After 18 holes, Duke was on the outside looking in fighting for a bid to the national championship.
Luckily for the Blue Devils, they had two more days to turn things around and keep their season alive.
Duke placed fourth at the Baton Rouge, La., NCAA regional Thursday through Saturday, earning the top-six finish needed to ensure a spot in the NCAA championship May 20-25 in Eugene, Ore. The No. 5 Blue Devils—who finished the event at nine over par—were tied for seventh after one day of action at The University Club, but a trio of Duke golfers posted under-par performances during the final 36 holes to ensure the team a shot at its seventh national title.
Despite not earning a victory—the Blue Devils finished 13 strokes behind No. 6 Florida and No. 22 South Carolina, which tied for first place—Duke head coach Dan Brooks said the team should be proud of its ability to bounce back after a rough opening round.
“They’re the type of players that think about winning, but the way this particular tournament unfolded with us kind of getting in a little bit of a hole that first day and then playing as well as we did the next two days, I think there’s a little more satisfaction that comes from that than would have otherwise come from finishing fourth instead of first,” Brooks said.
Sandy Choi led the way for the Blue Devils as the only player in the lineup to turn in red numbers both Friday and Saturday. After a one-over-par opening round of 73, the junior carded a bogey-free 69 on a day when the course scoring average was nearly 76. Although the bogies did not stay off the card Saturday—Choi had three—the Seoul, South Korea, native leveraged a string of birdies early in the final round and a birdie on the par-4 10th hole to finish tied for fourth.
“Her greatest attribute is her calmness when she plays in postseason stuff. She just has exactly the same rhythm, the same routine, she doesn’t change because of the 'importance' of shots, she just does her thing.” Brooks said. “She’s practiced doing things exactly the same way so many times that its sort of like climbing into a cocoon on every shot.”
The Blue Devils’ final round show was stolen by freshman Virginia Elena Carta, who notched seven birdies en route to a career-low round of 67. Elena Carta sat in a tie for 25th after rounds of 76 and 72, but Saturday success allowed the Udine, Italy, native to climb 18 spots up the leaderboard during the final 18 holes to tie for seventh place and post her fourth-straight top-10 finish.
The finish mirrors Elena Carta’s previous effort at The University Club during March’s LSU Tiger Golf Classic, in which she posted a then-career-best in the last round to jump 14 spots up the leaderboard and tie for second place.
“It seems like she’s very much enjoying this process,” Brooks said. “There’s people that go in the postseason and really, really enjoy it [and] there’s probably going to be players that go into postseason and get a little bit uptight, and its great to have somebody like Virginia. You can tell she just thrives.”
Every single Duke golfer posted a lower score in the third round compared to the first, which Brooks said was likely the result of his players shaking off the rust created by studying for finals.
Leona Maguire, the team's scoring average leader, was the third Blue Devil to finish under par for the tournament. The sophomore joined Elena Carta in a tie for seventh with a three-day total of 215 after shooting rounds of 73, 70 and 72. Maguire stood on the 54th tee at even par for the event, but birdied her final hole to slip into red numbers and also post her second-straight top-10 finish.
Senior Celine Boutier captured the individual title during her last start at The University Club—carding a 14-stroke victory with a score of 208—but history could not fend off her recent struggles as she posted her worst finish of the season. Although the Montrouge, France, native led the tournament in eagles made with two, she failed to break par during the event by turning in rounds of 79, 78 and 76, and finished in 68th place.
After being replaced in the lineup during the ACC championship, Gurbani Singh returned to action for Duke and tied for 44th place. After opening the tournament with two rounds of 76, the sophomore was even-par Saturday with three holes to go, but bogeyed holes 16, 17 and 18 to finish with a 75.
In addition to Florida, South Carolina and the Blue Devils, No. 13 Washington, No. 23 Oregon and BYU punched their tickets to the national championship by finishing in the top-six of the regional. The championship will be contested at Eugene Country Club and feature three days of stroke play followed by match play to decide this year's national champion.
Duke fell in the match play national semifinals last season.
“This team is going to have to do what they already know how to do. They’re not going to have to go to nationals and be somebody they’re not,” Brooks said. “The key to winning is doing what you’re already capable of doing and just going in and letting yourself do it.”
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