Duke men's golf finishes 10th at first spring tournament

After a successful fall slate, the Blue Devils opened their spring season with a less-than-stellar trip to the West Coast.

No. 13 Duke saw impressive performances from freshman Alex Smalley and junior Max Greyserman, but ultimately finished in 10th place at the Prestige at PGA West—its lowest finish this year. The Blue Devils finished with a cumulative three-day score of 13-over-par at the Greg Norman Course in La Quinta, Calif., finishing 39 strokes behind tournament champion and No. 25 LSU—which claimed the title by 18 strokes.

The Tigers obliterated the field during Wednesday's final round, posting a team score of 265 that cleared the next-best mark in the field by 14 strokes and helped LSU jump Arizona State, which had held the lead after two rounds. Duke finished Monday's opening round in fifth place after a four-over-par 288, and held that position with an impressive two-under-par showing Tuesday before dropping down the leaderboard Wednesday.

Greyserman and Smalley paced Duke for the tournament, finishing in a tie for 8th place with scores of two-under-par. Smalley was at three-under through the first 36 holes and appeared primed for a great final round after a two-under-par back nine in Tuesday's second round. But the Wake Forest, N.C., native couldn't put together another strong outing Wednesday, carding five bogeys in the final round—two more than in the first two rounds combined—as he turned in a one-over-par 71.

Greyserman, too, opened the first 36 holes at three-under-par, but succumbed to the same final-round woes that kept Smalley from climbing up the leaderboard. Following a birdie on the 440-yard second hole, Greyserman coughed up a double-bogey six on the ensuing third hole and bogeyed two more holes to finish with a 38 on the front nine. The Short Hills, N.J., native bounced back and played the final nine holes in two-under-par, but it was not quite enough to salvage what ended up as a final-round 72.

Sophomore Adam Wood sputtered in his first tournament since being named to the Ben Hogan Award watch list—an award given to the best golfer in the nation. Wood led the Blue Devils in scoring average by nearly a two-stroke margin during the fall, but failed to break 70 this time around. For the tournament, he shot a nine-over-par 222—74 in the first round, 71 in the second and a 77 in the final round—to finish in a tie for 48th place. 

Loyola transfer Matt Oshrine finished tied for 53rd with score of 223, and junior Alexander Matlari rounded out Duke’s scoring five with an overall score of 235—good for 73rd place.

Sophomore Jake Shuman entered the tournament as an individual and finished in a tie for 37th. Shuman was the lone bright spot for the Blue Devil during Wednesday's final round, posting a 69—tied for the lowest round carded by any Duke golfer in the tournament—thanks to four birdies on the front nine.