For the start of a fall season that will take them all the way across the country to Oregon, the Blue Devils get to stay right at home.
Duke returns to the golf course this weekend, hosting the Rod Myers Invitational at the Duke University Golf Club. The tournament features 36 holes of play Saturday followed by a single round Sunday, with the first tee time scheduled for 7:40 a.m. both days. This weekend marks the sixth installment of the Rod Myers Invitational—named for the revered 34-year head coach of the program who passed away in 2007—but in the past has typically been held in early October.
“It’s terrific to host it this year as our very first event. We’ve never done that before and frankly I don’t know if Duke has ever done that on the men’s side,” Duke head coach Jamie Green said. “For our guys, the key is just having the very start of the year and those first three weeks to focus on one golf course, and that’s our own, so hopefully we’ll be treating it like a home track.”
Saturday will be the first time the Blue Devils hit the links together since the end of May, when they finished tied for 24th at the NCAA championships. The 14-team field includes both familiar faces like Notre Dame, Wake Forest and reigning tournament champion East Carolina as well as new squads such as Penn State and Kansas.
After finishing fourth in the tournament a year ago, Duke will be putting out a lineup with relatively few changes. The only graduated starter for the Blue Devils is Turner Southey-Gordon, who led the team with 11 tournaments played last season—including two top-10 finishes.
Southey-Gordon was an important starter in the middle of Duke’s rotation last year, but it was perhaps the impact he had on his teammates that was his biggest contribution. Green frequently praised the Toronto native for the example he set for the younger Blue Devils with his demeanor and conduct. There are no seniors in the lineup this weekend to take Southey-Gordon’s place, but Green said he is confident his club can fill the vacuum created by his departure.
“What’s interesting about that is that leadership comes in all sorts of forms and all sorts of ages. The reality of it is we’ve never had captains, specifically because we’re such a small team,” Green said. “We kind of let guys trade and they all serve those roles and they take turns leading in different ways. I pass off the microphone or the baton, or whatever it is, to the guys to help lead each other, but it’s different guys at different times. It’s not really imperative that we have a senior.”
Green will be looking for a pair of sophomores—Adam Wood and Jake Shuman—to build on their impressive rookie seasons and start to carry the team. Wood and Shuman were Duke’s best two golfers by scoring average as freshmen last season, and Shuman finished in a tie for eighth at this tournament in his first time out.
The duo improved as the Blue Devils moved further into their schedule, culminating with both golfers posting a top-20 finish during NCAA regional and championship competition.
Two newcomers will join Wood and Shuman in the starting five—transfer Matt Oshrine and freshman Alex Smalley. Oshrine is a junior who earned Patriot League Golfer of the Year honors last season at Loyola, and Smalley is a Wake Forest, N.C., native who will start at the No. 2 spot thanks to a team-best 68 in the final qualifying round.
Saturday will be both players’ first round in a Duke uniform, but Green said the opportunity to compete on the course they have been practicing on is a huge benefit, and he has been encouraged by what he’s seen so far.
“Although he’s new to Duke, [Oshrine is] definitely not new to college golf. He had a lot of success at Loyola, lots of rounds in the 60s, lots of tournament wins, conference player a couple years in a row,” Green said. “I wasn’t surprised [about Smalley shooting 68]. I think his teammates weren’t surprised, but were very pleased to see one of their new teammates go out there and play well and get himself in the lineup. We’re excited to have him in there this weekend.”
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