The Blue Devils finished second in the ACC championship at the Old North State Club in New London, falling to Florida State in the final round. Duke ended the round at 4-under par, bringing its three-day total to 841, three strokes behind the Seminoles.
After entering the final round with a one-stroke lead over Florida State, the Blue Devils stumbled on the first hole, as only two golfers were able to break even.
"We gave it everything we had today but we just never really got anything going," head coach O.D. Vincent said. "For the third day in a row we got off to a real slow start on the first hole, which is a real birdie-able par-five. I think that is the hole out there that we probably left the most shots on."
After the rough start, a weather delay stopped action early in the round. The break from play may have helped rather than hurt Duke, Vincent said. It allowed the team to calm down and shake off any nerves.
"I think the rain delay was actually good for us," Vincent said. "We were a little anxious and hyped up when we got out there. We were on our 4th through 7th holes, so that little break actually got our guys grounded."
Junior Clark Klaasen paced the Blue Devils with a 4-under 68. With a three-round score of 211, Klaasen finished tied for eighth place individually.
After carding a season-best 68 in the second round, freshman Wes Roach posted a 1-over 73, bringing his final score to 5-under, good enough to tie with Klaasen and three other golfers for eighth.
Freshman Adam Long was not far behind, as he ended up in a tie for 13th place after shooting a 3-under for the day.
Although freshman Michael Pierce injured his leg during the second round, he was able to finish the tournament, tying for 34th place with a 3-over 219.
Despite entering the final round tied for third place on the leaderboard, senior Michael Schachner fell to 20th place. Schachner was unable to duplicate his previous rounds, as he failed to record a single birdie after hitting a combined nine on the first two days.
The Blue Devils will have a four-week break before playing for the NCAA regional championship May 15.
"Regionals is the most intense event of the year because there is so much on the line," Vincent said. "We are going to work hard to do as well as we can. But no team is safe in that so we've got a lot of work to do."
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