Duke got off to a hot start in its first action of the season, but wasn't able to maintain its momentum through the final 36 holes as the competition quickly pulled away.
The Blue Devils teed off for the first time this season at the Annika Intercollegiate in Orlando, Fla., where they finished fourth out of 12 teams. The 54-hole tournament was held across Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at the par-72 Watson Course of Reunion Resort and was hosted by LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam. It was a respectable start for a Duke squad—which won the national title two years ago—that was hungry to find success at the highest levels once again after an emotional semifinal loss during last year’s national championship.
“They did a great job of staying focused and playing hard,” Duke head coach Dan Brooks said. “We didn’t get the numbers that we want…Our last two days we just didn’t get the scores but we fought hard, so that’s all I can hope for.”
No. 6 Duke started off the week with promising signs, finding itself in second place after the first round and just one stroke behind No. 3 Southern California. The Blue Devils' first-round efforts were headed by decorated sophomore Leona Maguire, who shot a five-under-par 67 and was tied for second overall among individuals after 18 holes.
Maguire is returning from a successful 2014-15 campaign during which she took the women’s golf world by storm, capturing National Player of the Year honors and also earned the Golfstat Cup—given to the country’s scoring average leader. Sunday night, she was bestowed with yet another honor when she accepted the 2015 Annika Award, a separate accolade that recognizes the nation’s best player as chosen by coaches, players and the media. As a result of her strong play last season, Maguire sits atop the Women’s Amateur Golf Rankings and has an opportunity to lead the Duke squad to another national title this season.
Senior Celine Boutier posted the Blue Devils' second round in the 60’s, firing an opening-round 68 Sunday. Boutier’s day-one efforts showed a player who had kept her game in shape this summer, a result of competing in two professional majors and winning the Ladies’ British Open Amateur Championship.
The rest of the Blue Devil lineup featured two familiar faces and one new one. Freshman Virginia Elena Carta competed in her first round for Duke Sunday, notching a birdie on the first hole en route to a one-under-par 71. Junior Sandy Choi also carded a 71, and sophomore Gurbani Singh rounded out the team’s day-one scores with a 73. Brooks reflected on the team’s first round performance as a hopeful sign of its potential.
“That was an excellent first day,” Brooks said. “The scores we got the first day showed me that we’re there…not anybody can go shoot 11 under [par] in a day.”
Although the first competitive round of the year looked optimistic for the Blue Devils, their second was full of frustration. Duke's worst individual score from the first round nearly became the team’s best in the second round, with the low number being raised out of the 60’s by Maguire’s team-leading even-par 72. The rest of the team turned in a trio of 73’s and a 74.
By the end of day two, the Blue Devils managed to post a score of 291, a full 14 strokes worse than their day-one total of 277. Duke fell from second place to fourth Sunday, as the Trojans surged to a 17-stroke lead ahead of second-place Texas A&M and 21 strokes ahead of Duke. Despite the fact that the team’s scoring tapered off in the final two rounds, Brooks was not concerned about the Blue Devils’ ability to find the winner’s circle in upcoming tournaments.
“I’m not making a huge deal out of it," Brooks said. "Not all tournaments are going to [have] the low numbers. You can do almost all the right things and sometimes you just don’t get the scores, and I see it more [as] that kind of a tournament rather than a tournament where we were not prepared.”
In round three, Duke showed slight improvement, but failed to return to the form seen in its first round. The team improved three strokes from the previous day, as all Blue Devil players remained in the 70’s—with Gurbani Singh carding a 71 to lead the team in Tuesday's final round.
By the time the final putt was holed, Duke remained in fourth place, finishing 28 strokes behind Southern California, which totaled an impressive 36-under-par to claim the victory by more than 20 strokes.
The Blue Devils will return to North Carolina for their next competition, the Tar Heel Invitational beginning Oct. 9.
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