Duke places 2nd in ACCs

The Blue Devils continued their red-hot spring with a respectable finish at the ACC tournament, placing second overall in the team stroke-play event.

Coming off tournament wins in two of its past three tournaments, Duke traveled to the Old North State Club feeling good about its chances. The team’s confidence and depth paid off, propelling the Blue Devils to second place. Georgia Tech won in a landslide, though, shooting 33-under in the tournament, beating the Blue Devils by 20 strokes.

“We did all right—we finished second,” head coach Jamie Green said. “But Georgia Tech took care of business.”

Julian Suri led Duke with a total score of 209, including two rounds of 69. Suri’s play earned him a T-3 finish in the tournament, two strokes better than Brinson Paolini (211), who finished fifth overall.

On day one, freshman Yaroslav Merkulov shined, shooting a 69 with a flawless scorecard of 15 pars and three birdies in the midst of heavy rainfall. This round, in addition to Suri’s one-under 71, paced Duke to second place overall, a position the team would maintain for the remainder of the weekend.

The team turned to different players on day two for low scores. The Blue Devils were paced by Tim Gornik (68) and Paolini (69), in addition to another under-par round by Suri (69), making the Blue Devils the only team with three players recording scores in the 60’s.

Suri came into the weekend as the fifth-seeded starter for the Blue Devils, showing the overall depth that Duke has utilized all year long. According to Green, with so many consistent players, the Blue Devils are poised for a postseason run.

“The good thing about the lineup is that if we need to make a change, we have someone who can shoot under par any given day,” Green said. “Because of the depth and quality of players, it’s about making sure they’re comfortable and [that we] do our homework for any course we play in the future.”