After weeks of wintry weather in Durham, the Blue Devils are “headed down south” to the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate for their second tournament of the spring season.
The three-day tournament, named for the South Carolina country musician, will take place Friday through Saturday at Long Cove Club in Hilton Head, S.C. and feature six of Golfweek’s top 10 ranked teams, including No. 6 Duke. Despite the stiff competition, head coach Dan Brooks emphasized the need to take advantage of the opportunity for the Blue Devils to work on their own games.
“We’re happy to be going south. I can tell you that,” Brooks said. “To get out of the elements a little bit. I’m going into this tournament with expectations for their effort and their resolve but not necessarily with high expectations as far as place in the tournament and that sort of thing. And we’ll see how it goes, but we’re coming out of a tough winter.”
Duke’s only other opportunity to compete outside of Durham in 2015 so far came almost a month ago at the Northrop Grumman Challenge. Playing at the hilly Palos Verdes Golf Club in Palos Verdes, Calif., the Blue Devils placed ninth in the 16-team field, and sophomore Sandy Choi placed 11th overall individually in the 54-hole tournament.
Junior Celine Boutier was Duke's second finisher, tying for 16th after carding a two-under 69 on the final day of the tournament.
When the Blue Devils won the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate last year in their first appearance at the tournament, Boutier finished tied for third, just missing the playoff for first by a stroke. As the only player returning from the lineup that won in Hilton Head in 2014, the junior—who ranks sixth in the nation individually—has been able to help her young teammates prepare for it.
“I think it’s important to know what you can expect when you’re going into a tournament because then you can adapt your practice," Boutier said. "I try to help them as much as possible in terms of being detailed and bringing the right perspective to their practice.”
Joining her on the course will be Choi and three freshmen—Gurbani Singh and Lisa and Leona Maguire. Leona Maguire, ranked No. 1 overall in the country, will look to improve upon her spring debut at the Northrup Grumman Challenge, where she finished tied for 13th.
In addition to giving Duke an opportunity to get out on the course in some potentially better weather, the tournament also gives the competitors a unique chance to spend some time together off the course.
The teams gather together for a dinner one night. Then the tournament's namesake, a Gamecock alumnus, performs a private concert for the teams.
“It was amazing. Last year was our first time at this tournament so we didn’t really expect to be at a concert with Darius Rucker," Boutier said. "We knew that he was the sponsor, but we didn’t expect to him play a concert private for us, so it was a very nice surprise, and I’m really looking forward to being there again this year.”
Rucker, a serious golf fan, also teams up with the South Carolina men's golf program to hosts the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate.
Originally pitched by Gamecock head coach Puggy Blackmon, the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate has now become a premier early-season tournament and this year will be no exception, as its 17-team field features 12 squads ranked in the top 20.
But as they seek to tune up their individual games, it's unlikely the Blue Devils will be too focused on who else is out there.
"Everything’s process," Brooks said. "The best mentality is pretty much [being] unaware of who else is on the course."
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