It took all 54 holes, but Duke hit its stride just in time to make the NCAA Championship.
After a slow start in the NCAA Regional in South Bend, Indiana, the No. 23 Blue Devils stormed back into the playoff picture by recording a tournament-low score of 10-under 270 in the final round Saturday. The round, second-lowest in NCAA regional history, gave Duke a 54-hole total of one-under 839. The score put Duke in the NCAA championship, to be played June 1-6 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Senior Adam Long and freshman Brinson Paolini paced the Blue Devils with top-10 individual finishes, highlighted by a pair of five-under 65s on Saturday, the second-best rounds of the tournament.
“I would say stepping up is an understatement when you are playing in this type of environment and everyone knows what position you are in.” head coach Jamie Green said.
Long is one of only eight players to shoot even-par or better in all three rounds of the NCAA Regional. He finished in second place.
“Adam was really dialed in from tee to green,” Green said. “He believes in his ability, and his ability is going to be able to get things done. It has been fun for us to be a part of and have it help the team move forward.”
Long was the lone bright spot for the Blue Devils Thursday, shooting an even-par 70 en route to a team score of 292, good for 11th place out of 14 teams, 15 strokes back of first place.
“On this type of golf course, in this type of tournament, if you run into a tough stretch, there are so many teams bunched up that it’s going to knock you on the head on the scoreboard,” Green said. “That’s what we experienced here.”
Duke rebounded Friday to the tune of a three-under 277, led by sophomore Spencer Anderson’s season-best three-under 67 and even-par rounds from junior Wes Roach, Paolini and Long. The strong showing catapulted the Blue Devils into seventh place, only three strokes behind Michigan for the fifth and final spot in the NCAA Tournament.
But, the best was still to come for the resilient Duke squad. Saturday’s round was the second-lowest 54-hole total in school history.
“Everyone really stepped up and contributed which was huge and fun to be a part of,” Paolini said. “All of the guys came together, and everybody stepping up was something special. Hopefully this is the start of something even bigger.”
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