Any number of factors could have helped the Blue Devils to their win.
Maybe it was the tournament’s proximity to Durham — the par-70 Finley Golf Club is located a mere 23 minute drive from campus. Maybe it was a motivation to turn things around — Duke struggled at the Windy City Collegiate just two weeks prior.
Whatever the reason, the Blue Devils got hot and went low by the end of the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill. Junior Andie Smith led the charge — breaking records and guiding Duke with consistent below-par play — as the team came from behind and claimed first overall.
“We didn’t have a good first day, and we had a lot of climbing out to get this done,” head coach Dan Brooks said. “… I was very impressed by their patience.”
With each round, the Blue Devils warmed up more. Four of the five players shot better in Round 2 than in Round 1. All five individuals finished in the top 50 of 90 competitors, and Duke led the 17-team field by three strokes.
“I was very impressed by how they learned the golf course as we went along, and how they stayed solid,” Brooks said. “It wasn’t a roller coaster for them the last two days — it was very calm golf, and calm golf wins.”
Smith delivered standout performances day after day, shooting below par in all three rounds. She left the tournament well ahead of her competition — five strokes separated first and second place.
The individual title came as Smith’s first in her collegiate career. Along the way, she also broke program records for the lowest 18-, 36- and 54-hole scores on a par-70 course, shooting 68, 66 and 69 in her respective first, second and third rounds.
“[The win] hasn’t hit me yet, but I’m very excited. It was great to get the team win as well as the individual today, it’s not often that happens,” Smith said.
Day two marked Smith’s lowest-scoring round. Yet, three appeared to be her lucky number in Chapel Hill: in each of her final two rounds, she nailed back-to-back-to-back birdies. Coincidentally, she birdied the par-3 third hole in each of those rounds as well. Smith led the field in birdies, recording 14 total in the competition’s 54 holes.
“I think staying patient out here was the key. It’s a very challenging golf course, especially around the greens, and really taking one hole at a time … is the key to success out here and scoring well,” Smith said.
In spite of Smith’s dominance, the tournament still came down to the final few holes. A day three shotgun start meant that teams finished simultaneously, and when the field had four holes left to play, the first-place position was not in Duke’s control.
Michigan State and Wake Forest, both then-tied for first, had a two stroke lead on the Blue Devils, who were closely trailed by then-fourth Tennessee. Duke’s final surge came in the form of a collective four birdies by the team. Smith led the effort — with back-to-back birdie action on three of her last four holes — after just regaining the individual top spot in a back-and-forth with the Volunteers’ Bailey Davis.
“I kind of had an idea of where it was close enough that it mattered [in the third round], both individually and for the team, and if there was a time to get it together and play the way I know how to play … it was then,” Smith said. “I was lucky enough to have a putt just drop in on the last roll on hole No. 1. On No. 2, I set up a great birdie opportunity, and then No. 3, I had a tap-in birdie.”
Duke modeled persistence over its three rounds of play. After an unwanted 12-over first round, the team sat tied for sixth place, eight strokes behind then-first Kentucky. The Blue Devils shot +4 on the second day but rose only one place and narrowed the gap to first by a single stroke.
“I had high expectations, just because in these first two tournaments, we’ve had shining moments — and a lot of shining moments — but we didn’t get it all together,” Brooks said. “I felt like it was going to happen here, and that’s why that first day hit so hard.”
Yet, day three was different. Duke fought at each hole and built momentum to turn around and hit even-par. The Blue Devils’ 18-hole score — the lowest of the day — catapulted the team into the top position.
Smith wasn’t the only one with shining moments from the tournament. Sophomore Katie Li shot 5-over across the 54 holes. She carded rounds of 73 and 72 before firing off an even-par, 18-hole finish to close out the last day of competition.
Freshmen Carla De Troia and Anna Cañado Espinal each left Chapel Hill at +11 and +12, respectively. They were both closely followed by senior Rylie Heflin, who finished at 14-over.
“In the last two days, I didn’t see anybody’s chin drop or anybody act out in frustration,” Brooks said. “The first day … to be honest, I did. But the last two days, they cleaned all that up, and we were a mentally stronger team.”
The competition marks Duke’s strongest finish of the fall and first win at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational since 2018. In 2022, the team tied for fifth in Chapel Hill. Prior to the Blue Devils’ 10th place Windy City Collegiate showing, they came up fifth at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.
“It’s been a good fall. Those results from the first two weren’t exactly what we wanted, but if you look beyond the results at the behaviors and the work ethic and the attitudes, then we’re right on track,” Brooks said.
Duke heads to Wilmington, N.C., for the Oct. 25-27 Landfall Tradition before setting its sights on spring play.
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Ryan Kilgallen is a Trinity sophomore and an associate news editor for the news department.