CHAPEL HILL—The Blue Devils continue to own their rivals' home course.
No. 5 Duke used a steady team performance to hold off second-ranked South Carolina to capture its second consecutive team title at the Tar Heel Invitational. Competing in an 18-team field that included eight top-25 teams and five ACC foes, the Blue Devils finished the soggy three-day event at the par-72 Finley Golf Course as the only team under par for the weekend.
"We had three freshmen in the lineup, and I'm glad they got a little taste of a Duke win early in the season," Blue Devil head coach Dan Brooks said. "I thought they handled the wind and the wet conditions really well. What more can you ask for?"
Junior Celine Boutier and freshman Leona Maguire were Duke's top finishers, tying for third place at two-under-par, five shots off the winning score by Virginia's Lauren Diaz-Yi. But the Blue Devil golfers arrived there via different routes.
Saturday's second round was cut short due to rain, with the entire Blue Devil squad still out on the course. Duke was wrapping up on the back nine when inclement weather struck the Triangle area, threatening to disrupt the momentum of sophomore Sandy Choi. The Seoul, South Korea, native had strung together five birdies through her first 15 holes, rocketing her 23 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for sixth.
With more rain in the forecast Sunday, play resumed at 8 a.m. with the conclusion of the second round, followed immediately by the start of the final 18 holes. Having made par on each of her first 12 holes, Boutier continued her mistake-free round, sinking par putt after par putt for a bogey-free, birdie-free round of 72 in the second round. After firing an opening-round 68 with just one bogey, the Frenchwoman remained near the top of the leaderboard heading into the final 18 holes and in contention for the individual title, a familiar position for last year's National Player of the Year..
A freshman from Cavan, Ireland, Maguire was impressive on the front nine Friday and Saturday, notching four birdies and no bogeys, but struggled on the back half of the 6,379-yard course. After being doomed by five bogeys against just one birdie on the closing holes, Maguire entered the final 18 holes in 12th place.
Light rain continued to fall on the course for most of Sunday. Brooks knew that a strong finish to the second round would be imperative in the event that the weather took a turn for the worse—but he chose not to inform his team.
"I was tempted to mention the fact that if the third round rained out, which it could have, then you fall back on what happened after round two," Brooks said. "In other words, we needed to go be ahead after the second round. We needed to play those two or three holes and get the lead in case this round rained out, we'd have the 36-hole lead and win the tournament."
Brooks didn't need to worry—led by six more pars from Boutier, Duke stayed steady while South Carolina dropped six strokes in its close to the second round, giving the Blue Devils a slim edge heading into round three.
The third round was not that will end up on Boutier's personal highlight reel. The junior saw her streak of consecutive pars ended at 22 with a bogey on the second hole, and missed several makeable birdie putts throughout the round. Waterlogged by the persisting rain, the greens played slow all day Sunday—much slower than the fast greens Duke has been training on in Durham—and likely cost the Frenchwoman a few strokes. Despite consistently hitting greens in regulation, Boutier bogeyed three holes and birdied just one, turning in a two-over-par round that dropped her from contention for the individual crown.
"It actually made this course harder. The scores were a little bit closer to par than they've been in the past," Brooks said of the rain. "You can go low on this golf course, although they've stretched it out now so it plays longer than it did several years ago. It definitely made it a harder golf course. If the pins were back, because they're such big greens, it would make some of these approach shots really long, because there's no rolling the ball—you've got to hit it way back there."
The morning did not start well for Maguire, who double-bogeyed the second hole to drop her to two-over-par. But showing the grit of a veteran, the freshman blocked out the miscue by birdieing her next two holes. Maguire was mistake-free for the rest of the round, picking up two more birdies on the back nine that had given her trouble in the rest of the tournament and catapulting herself into the top three.
With Boutier not at her best and Maguire finishing strong, the other three Blue Devils needed to step up to bring home Duke's first hardware of the young season.
Maguire's twin sister, Lisa, turned in an even-par round after shooting five-over through the first 36 holes, finishing in 27th place. Choi bogeyed her final hole of the second round, and was up-and-down in her final trip around the links, carding a two-over 74 that put her in the clubhouse tied for 11th.
The final member of the Blue Devil lineup this weekend, freshman Gurbani Singh, made her collegiate debut after missing Duke's first two tournaments of the year competing in international tournaments for her home country, India. Singh entered the final round at four-over par, but regained some confidence with an even-par performance that helped seal the Duke win.
"By the time they finished that second round, we were in the clubhouse ahead, and I was happy with that," Brooks said. "Fortunately we got to play the whole tournament and we won anyway."
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