After a fifth place finish in the Annika Intercollegiate Tournament at Reunion Resort in Orlando, Fla., Duke will look to add another strong finish to its season record at the Tar Heel Invitational. Last year, the Blue Devils took home first place at the tournament in Chapel Hill, NC.
The field for the Tar Heel Invitational is competitive, but the No. 6 Blue Devils will attempt to repeat as champions at the three-day, 54-hole event at the par-72, 6,379-yard UNC Finley Golf Course.
“We’ve had some good performances so far at the Annika Intercollegiate tournament and the Cougar Classic,” head coach Dan Brooks said. “We’re looking forward to taking on the Tar Heels and the rest of the field.”
Throughout the last week, the Blue Devils have used their practices to make adjustments to their individual games, and to refine their play after a middle-of-the-pack finish at the Annika Intercollegiate tournament.
The members of the team playing in this weekend’s tournament are junior Celine Boutier, sophomore Sandy Choi, freshman twins Leona and Lisa Maguire and freshman Gurbani Singh. Singh missed the Annika Intercollegiate tournament, as she was competing in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. She will replace junior Yi Xiao, who finished 18-over-par at the Annika.
The return of Singh bodes well for the Blue Devils, as the New Delhi native specializes in short game play, and the UNC Finley Golf Course is notorious for its tricky greens.
“It’s a good golf course,” Brooks said. “But its bent grass greens and soft fairways leading up to the greens can be difficult to play. Our players’ individual strategies will focus on [the short game]. The softer grass allows you to go straight for the pin, as opposed to playing more conservatively, so [the greens] really favor stronger putters, like [Singh].”
The Blue Devils will have their work cut out for them, as the tournament features a challenging field to match its challenging greens. Among the 18-team field, No. 2 Arkansas No. 12 Vanderbilt and host North Carolina will provide a stiff test for Duke.
“We play this tournament every year, regardless of field, because it’s 15 miles down the road,” Brooks said. “We don’t necessarily plan to have tough opponents, but Vanderbilt and [North Carolina], on their home course, are definitely going to challenge us.”
The Blue Devils' biggest challenge to repeating as Tar Heel Invitational champions is South Carolina. The Gamecocks are the No. 1 team in the country, and feature Golfweek Magazine’s top-rated collegiate female golfer, Justine Dreher. The senior was awarded the honor of Golfweek's National Player of the Week after an individual first place finish at the Annika Intercollegiate tournament in which she led South Carolina to a team victory.
Duke, however, has depth unmatched by the other teams in the Tar Heel Invitational. Both Maguire and Boutier have cracked the top 10 in Golfweek’s player rankings, at No. 3 and No. 5, making the Blue Devils the only team to have multiple players in the top 10. Choi is also ranked, coming in at No. 33.
“The scores at [the Tar Heel Invitational] have been traditionally low, so all of our players are going to have to score low to win,” Brooks said. “That’s when our depth comes in handy.”
With the roster of Boutier, Choi, the Maguire twins and Singh, Duke will enter the tournament with the expectation of repeating as Tar Heel Invitational champions. The Blue Devils will tee off at 8:51 a.m., 9:01 a.m. and 9:11 a.m. Friday morning.
“We’ve played this course several times, and we’ve played the course [when its been groomed for competition] several times,” Brooks said. “So we should be ready to go.”
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Jacob Weiss is a Trinity senior. His column, "not jumping to any conclusions," runs on alternate Fridays.