Beating one of the best teams in the nation is hard enough. Doing it on that team’s home course is even tougher.
If Duke—winless since October—wants to get back on track with a victory, it will need to accomplish all of the above and more.
The No. 2 Blue Devils will look to improve upon a third-place finish in their last event as they participate in the LSU Tiger Golf Classic in Baton Rouge, La., Sunday through Tuesday The 17-team shootout will be played at The University Club, the home course of tournament host and defending event champion Louisiana State.
Unlike recent tournament locations, this week’s track will be a new one for all of Duke’s golfers, giving them no upper hand as they attempt to take down one of the nation’s top squads on its home turf. Although the Blue Devils enter the event as the highest-ranked team in the field, there will be three other top-25 teams attempting to continue the team’s winless drought.
This week’s venue is particularly appealing to Duke and other top talents because it gives the teams an opportunity to preview a potential postseason tournament host. The University Club will be one of four courses to hold an NCAA regional championship May 5-7, when 18 teams will be selected to participate with aspirations of moving on to the national championship in Eugene, Ore.
Duke will be led by February’s ACC Co-Golfer of the Month, Leona Maguire, who has an opportunity to bounce back after her season-worst finish March 4-6 at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. The sophomore is currently ranked No. 3 in the Golfweek rankings and boasts a team-best 71.4 stroke average this season.
Junior Sandy Choi adds a one-two punch to this weekend’s lineup after finishing tied for second place in the Blue Devil’s most recent event. The duo of Choi and Maguire has been a reliable producer for Duke head coach Dan Brook’s squad, collecting nine top-20 finishes in the team’s past five starts.
Brooks has been the head coach in Durham for 31 years, but he also has limited experience through the years at the David Toms and Jim Lipe design, as Duke will make its first appearance at The University Club since participating in the LSU Invitational in 2011, when the team notched a third-place finish. The Blue Devils were victorious the last time the NCAA regional was hosted at the par-72 course, posting a first-place finish with a three-day score of 872 in 2007.
Senior Celine Boutier will make the trip south also in the wake of her worst finish of the season after posting a tied for 45th place finish at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate. The Montrouge, France, native carries positive momentum into Sunday’s opening round, though, as she rebounded from an 80 during the second day of the tournament with a 70 on her final 18 holes.
Duke’s lineup will be rounded out by sophomore Gurbani Singh and freshman Virginia Elena Carta, who finished tied for 45th and tied for 55th in their most recent tournaments, respectively.
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