GREENSBORO, N.C.—After dealing with wet weather for most of the morning, the Blue Devils created a victory shower for one of their own Saturday, a fitting celebration to cap off an impressive performance.
No. 3 Duke dominated the ACC Championships at Sedgefield Country Club, as sophomore Celine Boutier captured her third straight individual title of the season and the Blue Devils left a rain-soaked Greensboro with a 27-stroke victory. Duke finished the three days of play with a 10-over-par total of 862, including Boutier’s winning total of 210 that left her as the only individual in red numbers at three under.
The ACC field that featured six top-30 teams was no match for the Blue Devils, who entered the final day with a 14-stroke team lead and competed largely against each other for the individual title amid the wind and rain. Three Blue Devils ended the 54-hole tournament with top-4 finishes, and no Duke player ended the weekend outside the top 20.
“One thing I really liked is that they kept grinding and fighting today even though we did have a pretty good lead,” head coach Dan Brooks said. “We are fighting for the next thing down the road. We don’t pretend that just because you have a big lead we can relax and that’s the way you ought to play golf.”
With her victory, Boutier became the 12th Blue Devil to bring home the individual ACC title. Boutier went two under on her final four holes to wrap up the victory and was ambushed on the 18th green by her teammates and assistant coach, who doused her with water after she holed her final putt.
“They love each other and they’re having a great time—that means a lot to me,” Brooks said. “We’ve had teams that won a lot and didn’t seem to really rejoice in the process of winning. This team, they love to win and they like to celebrate winning, and that’s great.”
Senior Laetitia Beck was the only player who threatened Boutier’s lead Saturday. Starting the final round seven strokes back of her teammate, Beck used a four-under 31 on her opening nine to pull within three shots of Boutier. Bogeys on 13, 16 and 17 derailed Beck’s comeback effort, but the senior’s 68—the lowest round of the tournament—was enough to earn her a second place finish in her final conference championship.
“Overall I am happy with what I did today,” Beck said. “[I made a] few mistakes here and there—I’m a little frustrated with my finish. But I am very happy to see that I was able to make a lot of birdies because I haven’t done it in a while.”
Playing in their first ACC Championship, freshmen Sandy Choi and Yu Liu notched two top-10 finishes at Sedgefield. Choi finished the weekend with a six-over-par total of 219 to claim fourth, and Liu ended the weekend one stroke back to tie for fifth. Liu has now gone eight consecutive tournaments without turning in a finish outside the top 10.
Alejandra Cangrejo ended Saturday tied for 19th, earning the senior her fourth career top-20 finish at the ACC Championship.
With Saturday’s victory, Boutier became the first Blue Devil to win three consecutive tournaments since Amanda Blumenhurst accomplished the feat during the 2007 season.
“The thing I like the most about Celine—where she is right now—is that she seems to be having a lot of fun out there,” Brooks said. “If she can get herself to have some fun, then she can go lower, and I think that’s happening.”
The Blue Devils’ ACC title is the program’s third straight and 19th in history, 18 of which have come with Brooks as head coach. Duke will now be looking to add to the school’s five national titles, starting with the NCAA Regional Championship in three weeks.
"We’ve got to continue to do what we’ve been doing,” Brooks said. “We’re thinking big this year.”
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