Alex Smalley left Duke last spring as one of the top freshmen in the country, having posted a win, three-top 10 finishes and a top-25 finish at NCAA regionals.
After a summer in the spotlight, the Wake Forest, N.C., native has a new goal—becoming an All-American.
Smalley and the No. 23 Blue Devils will open the season Saturday and Sunday in the Rod Myers Invitational at Duke University Golf Club looking to get back to the NCAA championship after an eighth-place NCAA regional finish left Duke out of the final event of the year last season.
The Blue Devils have several reasons to enter the 2016-17 campaign with high hopes, though. In addition to bringing back its entire five-man lineup that spent most of last year in the top 25, Duke might have a star in the making in Smalley.
The 6-foot, 145-pound sophomore won the final regular season event of his freshman campaign, paced the team at NCAA regionals and won an individual medal at this summer's U.S. Amateur following two rounds of stroke play. Although Smalley fell in the second round of match play at the event, he returns to a deep Blue Devil squad with more confidence after finishing with the second-lowest U.S. Amateur 36-hole score ever.
“In order to play well for the team you have to play well for yourself first," Smalley said.
Despite his performance at Oakland Hills Golf Club in Michigan this summer, Smalley will open the season at the No. 5 spot for head coach Jamie Green's team, illustrating the Blue Devils' depth.
Freshman Chandler Eaton, junior Jake Shuman and senior Matt Oshrine—who all also competed at the U.S. Amateur—will play out of the top three spots in the lineup this weekend. Senior Max Greyserman will round out Duke's starters at the No. 4 spot, with the Blue Devils' six other players on the roster competing individually.
Junior Adam Wood—who led Duke in scoring average last season—is among the group that will not contribute to the Blue Devils' team score as Duke takes on 13 other schools, including No. 14 Wake Forest, No. 18 Florida State and No. 22 South Florida. The Demon Deacons won last year's Rod Myers Invitational, holding off a furious Blue Devil rally with a birdie putt on the final hole to win by one.
"It’s great that we’re starting off hosting our home event because everyone can play in it," Smalley said. "It’s great to see, first tournament of the year, your home course—just to see where things are at game wise."
Before the NCAA regional in late May, Smalley and a number of his teammates competed in local U.S. Open qualifying at Duke's home course, with Smalley firing a 6-under-par 66 to earn medalist honors before earning another medal at the U.S. Amateur.
"It was great to know because there were some Web.com Tour guys there playing in the qualifier at Duke," Smalley said. "It was great to see that you could hang with them, or even beat them."
At the U.S. Amateur, Smalley stayed hot with a 5-under-par 65 to tie the course record at Oakland Hills—he had a putt to break the record on the final hole that just missed—in the first of two stroke play rounds.
Following a 2-under-par 68, Smalley finished as the top seed in stroke play. After winning his first match in the Round of 64 against 38-year old Scott Harvey, Smalley fell in the second round to Illinois junior Dylan Meyer, who used an early eagle on the second hole to take control of the match.
Despite the setback in match play, Smalley is hoping to carry momentum into his sophomore campaign and help his team peak at the right time. With his experience on the national stage, Smalley and Duke's returners hope they can get the Blue Devils back in the top 15 at NCAAs next spring—a feat Duke has not accomplished since 2011.
“It doesn’t seem that big once you’re there, but once you get back home and you watch it on TV, and you got all these commentators and all these people following you, you’re like, ‘Wow, I was a medalist. That’s pretty cool,’" Smalley said.
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