It was not the end result they were hoping for this weekend, but the Blue Devils have done everything except ease up down the stretch—and with the ACC tournament five days away, a seventh-place finish may end up helping more than hurting them.
Paced by Leona Maguire’s third-place finish, No. 4 Duke finished tied for seventh at the PING/ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. No. 8 Arizona won the tournament by a comfortable seven-stroke margin, shooting 3-under par on the weekend to outpace second-place Baylor.
The Blue Devils’ performance was not up to snub with what the squad has put together in past weeks, but head coach Dan Brooks said the competition was just what his golfers needed to face before the upcoming weekend’s ACC tournament.
“We went in with high expectations—we’re coming off a performance at Georgia and a win at the Darius Rucker [Invitational] before that—we didn’t have a great tournament,” Brooks said. “It was a decent tournament. We were in a very, very strong field. I think they recognize where they need to trim things up a little bit. Overall, I think it was a good experience heading into the conference tournament.”
The two stars for Duke—Maguire and junior Celine Boutier—continued to shine as the pair finished in the top-six. Boutier, the reigning National Women’s Golfer of the Year and seventh-ranked golfer in the NCAA, wrapped the tournament with rounds of 72 and 73 after an opening round score of 69 to finish with 2-under par for the weekend.
After carding a field-best six-under 66 in the opening round, Maguire cooled off on the second day, shooting a 2-over-par 74 in the second round. The Dublin native capped the weekend with a 1-under 71 Sunday, securing third place and earning the Outstanding Freshman Award in the process. Maguire is currently the nation’s top-ranked women’s collegiate golfer, a feat even Brooks said he did not fully expect.
“She plays very, very solid golf. She has all the parts,” Brooks said. “Leona, in particular, has been playing some really great golf for a long time. I wasn’t surprised to see her come in—of course, to be No. 1, I don’t know if you call it a surprise, but it’s pleasing. But I definitely expect her to be one of the very best college players.”
Junior Sandy Choi was next up for Duke, finishing tied for 39th after shooting 6-over par. Gurbani Singh and Irene Jung both tied for 63rd after shooting 11-over par. Lisa Maguire—the twin sister of Leona—rounded out the group, shooting 16-over par to tied for 79th.
Even though Duke did not put together the holistic performance it hoped for coming into weekend, the Blue Devils will enter the conference tournament with confidence thanks to the three-headed monster of Boutier, Maguire and Choi, who Brooks called the backbone of an already-talented squad.
“Those two—Leona and Celine—and Sandy—who’s right in there—those three, I would have to say, are our rocks,” Brooks said. “You couldn’t ask for three better leaders and more cooperative top players that just get it. All three get it. This is about the team and I think they’re grateful that the other plays well. They’re grateful for the great skill that each brings to this team. That’s when you have a really fun team—when they’re grateful for each other. And I definitely feel we have that.”
And as much as the weekend invitational was a fine tuning for the ACC tournament and putting that team spirit to the test, it also served as a short glimpse ahead to the NCAA tournament as the field was loaded with some of the nation’s top programs.
In particular, the Blue Devils faced off against an all-to-familiar foe in No. 1 Southern California, which is the squad Duke staged a furious comeback against in last year’s NCAA tournament to claim its sixth national title.
Also among the field of 15—all but one of which were ranked in the top 50—were No. 2 Washington, No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 South Carolina.
“You sign up a year-plus ahead of time [for tournaments], so you never know who’s going to be in the tournaments, but we’ve been pleased USC’s been in every tournament we’ve played in the spring,” Brooks said. “I love it. I think it’s great to get up against the best. I’d play USC every time we get up if we could. This whole thing about playing easy tournaments to get a win and feel great about winning—I don’t know about that. I want to play the best as often as possible.”
The Blue Devils will only have five days to rest and focus on schoolwork—there is only a week and a half remaining before the last day of classes—before they turn around and head to Greensboro, N.C., for the ACC tournament.
“It would have been nice to have a few days between the two tournaments, but other than that, this was a great warmup going into the ACC,” Brooks said. “It’s kind of hard to think about this as a warmup—this was a hell of field. This was amazing. It puts us in a good place. We just need to get back, get some rest, get caught up on schoolwork so we can focus on golf in Greensboro.”
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