The men’s golf team finished seventh of 18 teams at the Carpet Capital Collegiate this weekend at the Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga. Junior Ryan Blaum was Duke’s top scorer, recording a four-over-par 220 in the three-round tournament and tying for sixth place.
The Blue Devils finished 20 strokes behind Georgia, which led the entire tournament. Rhys Davies of East Tennessee State won the individual title with a one-over 217.
The weekend’s scores were inflated by a tough course layout and adverse weather conditions. Rain throughout the week leading up to the tournament forced players to hit mud-caked balls, and 15 to 20 mile per hour winds on the first day further increased stroke totals.
“I thought we played okay. Expectations have gotten high with the team having done so well in the fall season,” head coach Rod Myers said. “If we could’ve finished in the top five that would have been a really good showing, but it was a positive experience.”
With such difficult conditions, the tournament became a test of avoiding miscues rather than making shots, something the young Blue Devils had less success with than did the more experienced teams that finished ahead of them.
“They minimized their mistakes better than we did,” Blaum said of the top teams. “That’s something that just comes with experience. Hopefully we’ll be able to bring that to the table in the spring.”
Duke did finish ahead of New Mexico and Florida, two top-five programs, but the team felt that it could have done even better.
“We definitely could have contended to win the tournament,” said Nathan Smith, the Blue Devils’ second-best finisher. “We gave a few strokes away on the 14th and 17th holes.”
Blaum shot rounds of 75, 69 and 76. He said that he was unhappy with the way he performed on the back nine Sunday but was unsure of the cause of his problems.
Shooting rounds of 71, 77 and 73, Smith registered a five-over 221. He said the 17th hole, a long par four that he bogied twice, caused him the most problems.
At 14-over-par freshman Michael Quagliano was third among Blue Devils and 51st overall, while sophomore Jake Grodzinsky and freshman Michael Schachner finished in 61st and 66th places, respectively.
The tournament was the team’s last of a highly successful fall season. Duke will not return to action until late February.
“This was a good end to the fall,” Blaum said. “It will keep us hungry to work hard and come back even better in the spring.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.