For the second year in a row, the Blue Devils entered their final regular-season tournament without a stroke-play victory.
And once again, they found a way to end the season on a high note.
Paced by junior Leona Maguire's first-place finish, No. 10 Duke cruised to a second straight LSU Tiger Golf Classic title at the University Club in Baton Rouge, La. Playing 36 holes Friday and the final 18 Sunday due to inclement weather, the Blue Devils started fast, opening up a 13-stroke lead then building on that lead thanks to Maguire and sophomore Virginia Elena Carta to finish 18 strokes ahead of runner-up and No. 20 Oklahoma State.
Duke finished with a 54-hole total of 10-under-par, the same mark Maguire hit in winning her sixth individual title by four strokes ahead of her teammate Carta, who had by far her best regular-season performance at the University Club for the second straight year.
"It’s very impressive we were able to keep our mindset and calmness even though there was a full day off in the middle. It’s very difficult to maintain that sort of mindset from one day to the next, let alone when we skip a day in between," Duke assistant coach Jon Whithaus said. "It gives us good confidence and momentum going forward with the things that each player is working on. They’re on the right track and they can see the progress happening."
Blue Devil head coach Dan Brooks did not travel once again due to an ear-related health issue that prevented him from flying as a precaution.
Even with Brooks not with his players and the bottom of Duke's lineup struggling at times, Maguire and Carta carried the team to victory.
The No. 1 amateur in the world, Maguire led from start to finish with rounds of 67, 68 and 71 and became one of four players to finish at least 10-under-par since 2000 on the par-72 course. The Cavan, Ireland, native dominated in par-5 scoring en route to her first outright victory of the season, finishing with a tournament-best 7-under-par mark on the longest holes. Maguire put together another incredibly consistent regular season, finishing worse than a tie for third in just one of her seven starts.
With the Blue Devils' three other players combining to shoot 24-over-par, Carta's effort made sure Duke never faltered. The reigning NCAA individual national champion shot a 2-under-par 70 in the final round Sunday after starting with rounds of 73 and 67 to card her first top-five finish of the season.
Despite strong wind gusts Friday and a soggy course Sunday that made the 6,247-yard layout play much longer, Carta and her teammates stayed composed to finish in the top three in all four of their spring stroke-play events.
“It is a golf course and wind conditions that do require and reward someone who doesn't get frustrated and doesn't get tempted by hole locations that could be a bit elusive or an illusion based on wind conditions,” Whithaus said. “Virginia is very good at developing a plan and sticking to the plan, regardless of what happens. This type of golf course rewards that.”
The Udine, Italy, native excelled on par-4s, tying Maguire for the lead in scoring on the medium-length holes with a 5-under-par clip. Carta has had an up-and-down season coming off a national title and busy summer, with a myriad of ailments preventing her from seeing consistent playing and practice time.
She had finished in the top-10 just once this season and was coming off a 14-over-par performance at the SunTrust Gator Invitational, but looked like herself again following regular practice time last week.
“With her in and out of the lineup and inability to practice consistently for the first part of the season, it was difficult for her to get any sort of playing rhythm, even though she was striking the ball okay,” Whithaus said. “There’s a big element of playing rhythm that it takes to compete well, and she’s been able to do that the last couple of weeks.”
Although the rest of the Blue Devils were far behind Maguire and Carta, they did well to tread water on a course that played very tough once again—the average score was nearly 5-over-par per round.
After finishing in the top-seven in three of her last four tournaments, junior Gurbani Singh continued her resurgence, finishing tied for 16th with a 4-over-par three-round total, including a 71 in her first round.
Freshman Ana Belac also put together a decent showing by finishing tied for 22nd at 6-over-par for a fourth straight top-25 effort. Senior Sandy Choi struggled to a tie for 47th at 14-over-par, but her younger teammates picked up the slack in the team's win.
The field in Baton Rouge featured three other ranked teams, and Duke hopes to keep improving heading into a break before the ACC championship April 13-15 that will feature a match-play contest against Northwestern next Sunday. The Blue Devils have risen steadily up the national rankings in the spring and look poised to contend for a national title yet again.
“[The goal is] to continue to strengthen the habits that we’ve worked on throughout,” Whithaus said. “As those habits get fully developed, the results will come.”
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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.