Playing a season-opening event on a home golf course might seem like an advantage, but for the Blue Devils it might have gotten them too amped up.
No. 23 Duke struggled to a 9-over-par second round Saturday and finished fifth at the seventh annual Rob Myers Invitational at Duke University Golf Club. The Blue Devils opened the 54-hole event with a 1-under-par 287 and matched several other teams with a 6-under-par final round, but Duke's struggles in the middle of the two-day event set head coach Jamie Green's team back.
The Blue Devils finished second at the event in 2015—one stroke behind Wake Forest—but were 25 strokes behind the No. 14 Demon Deacons this time around.
“I never believe in that whole phrase that ‘You want it too badly,’ but I do think you want it badly enough that you lose your train of what relaxes you,” Green said after the tournament ended Sunday. “You get out of your normal mode of comfort play. we probably got out of that a little bit too soon. But when guys realized it and got back into the right frame of mind and calmed down a little bit, they hit some better shots."
Junior Jake Shuman led Duke's bounce-back final round, carding a 4-under-par 68 to finish tied for eighth individually at 2-under-par. The Needham, Mass., native birdied eight of his last 14 holes to carry the Blue Devils Sunday, with senior Matt Oshrine posting a 3-under-par final round to bounce back from a second-round 80.
“The golf course was in fantastic shape,” Greens said. “You could light it up this week.…. At least our guys know it’s out there, so it'll be good for us to come back and grind and claw the next time.”
The sub-70 rounds turned in Sunday were the only two of the event for Duke's five-man lineup, with no other Blue Devils placing in the top 15. Oshrine and freshman Chandler Eaton tied for 32nd, junior Max Greyserman finished tied for 18th and sophomore Alex Smalley tied for 27th to round out Duke's five-man lineup.
Green left junior Adam Wood—the team's leader in scoring average last year—out of the lineup and noted that the coaches are working with him to make a few adjustments. The Zionsville, Ind., native competed as an individual this weekend, shooting an even-par 72 Sunday after playing 5-over-par golf during the first 36 holes to finish tied for 32nd.
Five other Blue Devils competed individually but did not break into the top 40.
One of them did shoot the round of the week for Green's team, however, as junior Ben Silverman made an eagle on the final hole to post a 67 and beat his roommate Shuman by one in the final round. Silverman bounced back from a first-round 80 and second-round 78, and according to Green, Shuman said on the last hole he hoped Silverman could beat him.
Duke will look to carry its strong play from Sunday's final round into the Inverness Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio, Sept. 19 for its next event.
“To have that sort of encouragement and camaraderie, the guys know you control your own destiny as best as you can," Green said. "But at the end you want your other teammates to play as best as they can, even if they clip you by a shot.”
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.