After an ugly 9-over first round spelled their demise in their spring opener, the Blue Devils hoped that they could shake the early-tournament struggles their next time out.
Instead, the rust right came back.
Despite moving up the leaderboard in the second and third rounds, No. 22 Duke once again fell victim to a slow start, posting a first-round, 6-over-par 294 that left the team in 11th place in the 15-team field. The Blue Devils were similarly sunk at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate Feb. 26-28, stuck in an insurmountable tie for 11th after the second round before finishing in a tie for seventh.
That start was too much for even top-10 finishes from freshman Chandler Eaton and senior Alex Matlari to get Duke back in contention. After posting a 1-over-par, three-round total of 865, the Blue Devils finished tied for seventh, 17 strokes back of eventual champion Mississippi Tuesday at the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic in San Diego, Calif.
After no Duke player broke par in the opening round, Eaton and Matlari turned it on to fuel a respectable team placement, shooting 11-under-par combined in the final 36 holes to each finish tied for seventh.
The duo did its damage in own different ways—Eaton owned par-4s, finishing fourth overall in scoring on the medium-length holes, and Matlari dominated with his length, tying for first in par-5 scoring. Matlari also ranked fifth in birdies after racking up 15 in the three-round event.
Junior Adam Wood also bounced back from a 3-over 75 to open the tournament with a pair of 72s, helping to stabilize the Blue Devils. Duke's second round of 4-under-par 284 was one of the best any team put together this week, but the team's slow start prevented it from capitalizing.
Nonetheless, Wood’s effort was an encouraging sign for head coach Jamie Green and his squad, as the All-ACC performer fell to the B-team this fall and stumbled to a 16-over-par finish in his spring-opening event.
But a group that had prided itself on its balance—four golfers averaged between 71.6 and 71.9 strokes per round in the fall—lacked the sort of top-to-bottom consistency to get the job done.
Junior Ben Silverman finished worse than just five golfers who were not disqualified or had withdrawn from competition with a three-day total of 20-over-par. In his first collegiate start, Silverman struggled en route to 21 bogies, including two double-bogies and a triple-bogey on the par-3 sixth hole Tuesday.
Duke's leader early in the fall, Jake Shuman, also struggled. Shuman, who tied for first in the Inverness Intercollegiate and finished in the top 10 at the Rod Myers Invitational, tied for 50th with a 6-over-par ledger despite leading the team with an even-round 72 in his opening round Sunday.
After finishing 6-under-par in his first two tournaments, Shuman has finished last in Duke's lineup twice and third two times, a run in which he combined to shoot 18-over-par.
In a cruel twist of fate for the Blue Devils, their individual competitors shone—Matt Oshrine and Alex Smalley finished second and third, respectively among those playing as individuals, combining to shoot a cool 3-over-par for the tournament.
Had they been in the team lineup with those same scores, Duke would have easily been able to crack the top five,
After a two-day break, the Blue Devils will get right back to work Friday at the Desert Shootout/GCU Invitational in Phoenix.
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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.