Overcoming firm greens and swirling winds, the Blue Devils closed out the ACC Championships in style Sunday, capturing the conference title for the 18th time in school history.
No. 3 Duke posted daily totals of 293, 292 and 297 en route to a 24-stroke victory at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. The victory—the team’s first of the year—featured top-10 individual finishes from four of the five Blue Devils.
“I think what’s important—maybe even more important than the fact that we won—was the fact that we won by 24 strokes,” head coach Dan Brooks said. “We needed to play well because we have our sights set on big things. We needed to play well enough to win by a big margin to know that we are playing at the level we are capable of.”
The team entered Sunday with an 11-shot lead, which it managed to stretch throughout the day despite firmer conditions on and around the greens. Rain Friday night resulted in softer greens for Saturday’s round, but drier and windier conditions led to Sunday’s quicker and harder greens.
Junior Laetitia Beck and senior Lindy Duncan found themselves in contention Sunday before their hopes for an individual title were dashed by double bogeys on the 15th and 11th holes, respectively.
Beck, who started the day six shots off the lead, followed a one-over-par front nine with birdies on the 10th and 12th holes to pull within striking distance of Virginia’s Brittany Altomore, the eventual champion. But an errant shot by Beck on the par-5 15th found the water and resulted in a double bogey that proved to be the difference. Beck finished in second place with a six-over-par 219, two shots back of Altomore.
“I am not happy with the way I played this week,” Beck told GoDuke.com. “Even today I made a lot of birdies, but then also a lot of mistakes.”
After putting up an even-par 71 to finish Saturday just three strokes off Altomore’s lead, Duncan went six-over for her last 15 holes to finish with a 77 that left her tied for third at eight-over-par.
“Lindy is going to play to win, and she is never going to be happy if she doesn’t win,” Brooks said. “It was really tough to make up ground out there.”
Duncan’s chances for an individual title all but ended on the par-4 11th hole, when her approach landed 20 feet short of the flag before bouncing off the firm green, rolling off the back and coming to rest out of bounds. Duncan also had trouble putting on the course’s Bermuda greens, which she described as being a different speed all three days.
Junior Alejandra Congrejo birdied two of her final five holes to go one-under on the back nine, but never had a legitimate shot at the title. She finished tied with Duncan for third overall. Freshman Celine Boutier finished six strokes back with a 223 that left her tied for sixth.
“I had a feeling we’d win, to be honest, so my mind today was on how we well were finishing up. How strong are we? How patient are we on the last five holes? Are we staying tough? And I was very pleased,” Brooks said.
The Blue Devils will now have a three-week break before they compete in the NCAA Regional Championship May 9.
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