The No. 23 Blue Devils came out firing in the opening day of action at the Wolfpack Intercollegiate Monday, taking a three-stroke team lead into the final day of golf today.
Duke’s five golfers shot a a combined minus-10 in the two rounds, while host school N.C. State shot minus-seven, good for second place. Two other ACC schools, Maryland and Wake Forest, rounded out the top four in the competition after day one.
Duke was led by Brinson Paolini, who carded back-to-back rounds of two-under on the par 71 course, good for the second best individual score. Freshman Yaroslav Merkulov sits in third after firing a 67 in his second round of the day. Merkulov accounted for six birdies and only two bogies in that second round.
The Blue Devils’ No. 2 golfer, senior Wes Roach, struggled, posting the Blue Devils’ worst score—145. Roach shot a double bogey in both of his rounds and scored a three-over in a first round that included only two birdies.
Freshman Austin Cody made his collegiate debut while competing as an individual. He rebounded from a poor first round to shoot two-under in a second round that included only one bogey.
The Wolfpack Intercollegiate is played at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course, a difficult track ranked by Golfweek magazine as the No. 22 on-campus collegiate course. The Blue Devils have had great success in the tournament in recent years, winning it five times in the past ten years.
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