As the Blue Devils entered the field in Tulsa, Okla., for their final tournament of the season, they faced their most unpredictable opponent yet: wind. Mother Nature unleashed 30-40 mile-per-hour winds on the team, but it wasn’t enough to knock Duke men’s golf off its feet.
“It was windier than we'd seen probably in any tournament in the last three or four years,” head coach Jamie Green said. “Was it a test? Was it a challenge? Absolutely, but it gave our guys an opportunity.”
And the team took this opportunity and ran with it at The Clerico, ending with a third-place finish to close out its fall season, only behind Northwestern and Oral Roberts. For senior Luke Sample, the wind was no stranger after spending his summer competing in Ireland at The Amateur Championship.
Green noted that for Sample, “The amount of creativity and the amount of skill required to hit shots in that much wind was reminiscent [of Ireland].”
The New York native started with 2-over in the front nine of the first round, but entering the next nine holes, finished his round much improved. In a standout shot, Sample battled on the 14th tee to launch the ball just under 180 yards to sink a hole-in-one — his first in NCAA competition and only the sixth in Duke program history. He went on to finish with an opening-round score of 1-over. Junior Ethan Evans stood next to Sample as a high-performer in the first round. Leading the way for the Blue Devils, Evans carded an even-par 70 and ended the day with four total birdies — tied for the second-most by any individual in the field.
As a team, Duke shot 10-over in the first round and 8-over after play was suspended in the second round due to darkness — putting them in fifth place when they woke up for the next morning of competition.
“We didn't adapt as well as maybe we were hoping to getting out of the gate,” Green said. “But there's something to be said for accepting and learning from day one and seeing if you can apply in day two.”
The Blue Devils did just that. Duke shot 7-over for the third round, the second best round on the course for the final day. Sample remained resilient facing the gusts and fought right down to the last hole to post an even-par on the final day, one of two individuals to finish at even-par or better for the tournament. The senior left Tulsa with a second-place title, his best finish of the season.
While recognizing Sample’s strong performance from tee to green, Green emphasized the mental shift Sample implemented as he entered the tournament in Tulsa, particularly after a challenging outing at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate the previous week.
“[Sample] admitted to allowing him to play with more freedom, with more acceptance, with more creativity.” Green said “It turned into amassing 54 holes of some of the best ball striking we've had all year.”
“I would give us kind of an A-minus. It was a pretty good fall,” Green said of the season. “We want to be an A or an A-plus team by the end of this year.”
Time will tell if the Blue Devils can reach this mark, and they will open their spring season in Thousand Oaks, Calif., for the Southwestern Invitational.
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