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.
In his first three-and-a-half seasons at Duke, Alexander Matlari finished in the top-10 just twice. It only took him three tournaments to match that this spring.
Playing 36 holes Friday and the final 18 Sunday due to inclement weather, the Blue Devils started fast, opening up a 13-stroke lead then building on that lead thanks to Maguire and sophomore Virginia Elena Carta to finish 18 strokes ahead of runner-up and No. 20 Oklahoma State.
The Blue Devils will complete Friday through Sunday at the LSU Tiger Golf Classic in Baton Rouge, La., where the team will look to defend its title at the par-72 course with four-fifths of the roster that won by 16 strokes there last year.
Slow starts had plagued the Blue Devils to start their spring season, and they once again found themselves near the bottom of the standings, tied for 13th after a rocky first round.
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 yips their next time out.
Duke needed a stellar round Sunday to overcome a deficit to one of the best teams in the nation also playing on its own home turf, but finished with just a few strokes too many for the third time in as many events.
This weekend, the Blue Devils will find out if the third time’s the charm. Duke will head to Gainesville, Fla., Saturday and Sunday or the Suntrust Gator Invitational, where the Blue Devils will finally be at full strength after missing one of its regular starters due to health issues in each of the spring’s two events so far.
The Blue Devils held a two-stroke advantage in the final round of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate with all players through 12 holes, but an untimely birdie-free back nine at Long Cove Club halted Duke’s progress while reigning-champion Alabama gained ground.
With the squad at full strength, Duke will look to build upon that finish by returning to the friendly confines of Long Cove Club.
The Blue Devils entered their spring season with an incredibly balanced lineup—four Duke regulars are averaging between 71.6 and 71.9 strokes per round. But this weekend in Los Cabos, Mexico, it was Chandler Eaton who stood out the Blue Devils, despite a challenging couple of rounds for his teammates.
Head coach Jamie Green said that the long offseason presented its challenges, but noted his players have taken advantage of the downtime to improve aspects of their games.
After his first three college tournaments, Chandler Eaton had more rounds worse than 75 than better.
To open its spring slate, though, Duke displayed plenty of consistency—despite lacking continuity—en route to its best stroke-play finish of the season.
After more than three months off from competition, the Blue Devils are now looking to pick up its spring competition where the team left off in November—with a victory.
Carta's eight-shot margin of victory and four-day score of 16-under-par were both NCAA championship records.
After reaching two consecutive NCAA Match Play semifinals and earning National Player of the Year honors, the world’s No. 1 amateur golfer, Leona Maguire, still feels she has unfinished business to complete.
The Blue Devils have struggled so far this fall, but a win in the biggest fall event in the country could be just what they need to jump-start the 2016-17 season.
After struggling with consistency for most of the season, Duke entered the week trying to build momentum after a close seventh-place finish last week—it did just that and a whole lot more.
Eaton tied for fourth individually at his home course in Alpharetta, Ga., as the No. 23 Blue Devils finished seventh in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate.
