After riding a hot streak heading into the national championship, the Blue Devils fell short on the biggest stage and are looking to bounce back.
Behind the lowest 18, 36 and 54-hole scores in team history, No. 7 Duke handily captured the Jim West Challenge.
Former Blue Devil and then-rising senior Jenny Chuasiriporn nearly won the 1998 U.S. Women's Open as an amateur, one of the last shining moments of her career.
After being crowned as ACC individual champion in April, Leona Maguire was rolling, and she kept on going this week in South Wales.
Senior Matt Oshrine ended his Blue Devil career with the team’s best score in its return to the NCAA championship, finishing in a tie for 50th with a three-day, 1-over-par total of 217.
After fruitlessly searching for nearly a century, the Blue Devils hope to shock the golf world and enter uncharted territory—hoisting a gold-plated wooden trophy on the 18th green.
Duke’s season came to a close Monday at Rich Harvest Farms, as the team posted a 54-hole total of 70-over-par, placing the team in 18th place and 15 shots out of the top-eight cutoff the team needed to advance to Tuesday’s match-play bracket.
Twelve inches and one stroke have been all that have kept Duke from two consecutive national championship appearances.
After posting a 5-over-par through five holes Monday, the Blue Devils closed out the first round with scintillating back nines from Alexander Matlari and Alex Smalley.
Duke earned an automatic bid to regionals and will be a No. 4 seed in the 14-team event at The University Club hosted by LSU.
By shooting an even-par 288 both Tuesday and Wednesday, the No. 9 Blue Devils were able to move up off the cut line and ultimately finish seven strokes behind No. 1 Stanford.
About midway through Saturday’s second round of the ACC championship, the Blue Devils’ lead looked like it might be slipping away. After Duke came out strong to extend a one-stroke lead to 10 shots, senior Alexander Matlari, freshman Chandler Eaton and junior Jake Shuman combined to play just six holes in 12-over-par during a rough patch in the middle of the round, quickly shaving four shots off the team’s lead. But playing some of its best golf of the year, the No. 24 Blue Devils righted the ship and cruised through the rest of the second round before staying steady in the final 18 holes later Saturday en route to their first ACC championship since 2013.
All No. 9 Duke needs is a top-six finish to advance to the postseason’s final test later this month.
After a slow start to the spring season, it looked like the Blue Devils would fade out of contention and into the depths of ACC oblivion.
One of the sport's top young players, O'Sullivan won the 2015 U.S. Women's Amateur, in addition to the LPGA Symetra Tour Gateway Classic.
The Blue Devils now head into the most important part of their schedule with the ACC championship looming next weekend.
The No. 7 Blue Devils led wire to wire Thursday through Saturday at the Reserve Golf Club in Pawleys Island, S.C., restoring their nine shot lead with a 1-over-par final round and finishing with a three-day total of 5-under-par.
The Blue Devils struggled early in the spring to turn close finishes into victories, but the team’s recent resurgence makes it clear that Duke is ready to contend yet again heading into the postseason.
Although they have struggled with consistency this season, the Blue Devils hope they can play their strongest golf in their regular-season finale as they aim to get back to the NCAA championship after failing to qualify in 2016.
With a gutty back nine, however, the Blue Devils were able to claim fourth place at the Mason Rudolph Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tennessee this weekend.
