On his 16th hole of play Monday, Duke freshman Julian Suri teed up his ball on the 190-yard downhill par 3. Little did he know that a few seconds later, the crowd would erupt, applauding his fourth career hole-in-one.
Suri’s ace set the tone for the Blue Devils at the three-day Gifford Collegiate Championship in San Martin, Calif. He fired a 3-under 69 on Day One, followed by a 5-under 68 in his second round of action, tying him for the individual lead. Suri finished with a final-round 74 for a 5-under 211 total, good enough for eighth out of 88 participants in the tournament. Duke finished in fifth place as a team in the event, which featured Oklahoma State and Stanford, the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country, respectively.
Suri’s teammate, fellow freshman Brinson Paolini, also played extremely well in the first two rounds, shooting 71 and 70 before carding a 3-over 75 in the final round at the par-72 CordeValle Golf Club. Paolini and Suri have been golfing together for several years, and they fed off each other during this tournament.
“Julian has played fantastic. It comes as no surprise to me,” Paolini said. “I’ve been playing with Julian for almost eight years now and he has always been great.”
Suri’s stellar play had the Blue Devils sitting at second place on the team leaderboard entering the final round of play. The Blue Devils were just one shot off the lead with nine holes left Wednesday, and head coach Jamie Green and his team knew that a first-place finish was within reach.
“It was our destiny if we chose to make the right decisions and hit the shots that we can hit,” Green said.
Unfortunately, the Blue Devils did not execute all the shots they were capable of hitting, but there is reason to believe in them for the coming spring season. The emergence of freshmen Suri and Paolini is a very encouraging sign for Duke.
The Gifford Championship ended the fall season on a high note. The Blue Devils’ fifth-place team finish ties their best this season. Duke proved it can hang with the best programs in the country, and it looks to be an even better team in the spring. Green expects much improvement this winter.
“These guys are not at all afraid to work hard when they know what they are working on and why they are working on it,” Green said. “They all have the desire and when we sit down with them, they will make the necessary adjustments.”
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