Duke returned to Sawgrass Country Club at the James Hayt Invitational to face both the wind and top collegiate golf programs such as North Carolina and Texas.
The Blue Devils ultimately finished second place posting a score of 853, good for 11-under par. Duke was neck-and-neck with Alabama throughout most of the tournament, but a solid third-round performance gave the Blue Devils some separation on the board. Duke finished the weekend seven strokes behind the leader, Texas, who was able to manage the gusty conditions well.
“You know, tip our cap to Texas, they handled [the weather] pretty well,” head coach Jamie Green said about adapting to the wind. “[Texas] had really good rounds on two and three, [and] separated from the field because of that.”
Leading the scoring for Duke were junior William Love and senior Luke Sample. Sample had a particularly strong finish, posting a birdie-birdie-eagle on his final three holes of the tournament. The course finished by the lake where the wind was at its worst, but resiliency led to Sample’s 4-under 212, T-6 finish.
“To finish birdie, birdie, eagle and really catapult back up into the top five was pretty impressive,” Green said.
After missing time due to injury and illness, Love joined Sample as the only Blue Devils in red figures following the first round. Love posted a 5-under 31 at the turn and was even tied for first throughout the first round. He continued his steady play with a 2-under 70 second round, however, a turbulent 3-over 75 on his final round landed him in 10th place.
Play was rather consistent for the rest of the lineup. Junior Ethan Evans finished in 37th place after a 1-under 71 on the final round. Senior Kelly Chinn finished in 22nd place with an overall 2-over 218 and sophomore Bryan Kim finished the tournament even, good for 16th place.
What propelled Duke into a comfortable second place finish was the performance on Sawgrasses' four par 5s. The Blue Devils collectively shot 31-under on these holes — the best for any team in the tournament. Green attributed this to the team's length off the tee and ability to capitalize off of favorable fairway positions.
“Sometimes it's length. You get the guy that puts the ball in play with a little bit extra distance off the tee, obviously opens up opportunities,” Green said. “But you're still likely going to have a longer golf club in there.”
A strong weekend for Duke was a great rebound from a sluggish team start at the opening of the spring slate, an eighth-place finish at the Southwestern Invitational. The Blue Devils will have a quick turnaround and travel to the General James Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
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