Two weeks after finishing in fourth place at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, No. 7 Duke will look to build on that performance this weekend in a tournament closer to home.
The Blue Devils will make the short trip to Chapel Hill for the Tar Heel Invitational Friday through Sunday. The Invitational is an annual 54-hole stroke-play tournament hosted by North Carolina, and top teams from all over the country will compete against each other at the Finley Golf Course. Duke has won this tournament in each of the last two seasons, but a strong field this year will not make repeating as champions easy. No. 2 Alabama, No. 4 Arkansas and the Blue Devils will be the teams to beat this weekend, and the Razorbacks are one of the three teams that finished ahead of Duke in its first tournament.
“It’s nice that we get some good teams over here in a local tournament,” Duke head coach Dan Brooks said. “We’re always trying to play against the best, so it’s always good to be out there with good teams.”
The Blue Devils had an impressive first day at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate in Orlando, Fla., but were unable to sustain their high level of play during the final 36 holes. After an 11-under-par opening round that put Brooks' squad in second place—just one stroke behind Southern California—Duke shot three-over-par for the next two days to drop to fourth. The Blue Devils have put these rounds behind them, though, as they prepare for the Tar Heel Invitational.
“We’re not sweating, we’re not being reactive after each tournament,” Brooks said. “We put a little bit more time in on putting, but for the most part we’ve just kept doing what we always did. You just need to consistently work on all parts of your game and I think that’s going to let the score unfold.”
Duke returns all of its starters from last season, including the last two national players of the year. Senior Celine Boutier won the award in 2014 before sophomore Leona Maguire took home the honors as a rookie in 2015. Maguire shot five-under-par in the first tournament of the year and Boutier was two shots behind her teammate, good for ninth and 13th place, respectively. Both will look to be near the top of the leaderboard to help lead the Blue Devils to a victory in Chapel Hill.
Duke has a lot of depth behind its top two, which has been bolstered by the addition of freshman Virginia Elena Carta. The Udine, Italy, native shot one-over-par in Orlando to finish 28th overall in her first career college tournament, tied with sophomore teammate Gurbani Singh.
These four rounded out the scorers for Duke, and junior Sandy Choi was not far behind in 38th place. The Blue Devils’ added depth takes pressure off of Boutier and Maguire to carry the team by themselves.
“They count four scores out of five, so it’s no more important for [Boutier and Maguire] to play well than for anybody else on the team,” Brooks said. “You have Celine and Leona, who are both ranked very high, and if you get a lot of contributions from the other players, then it feels great.”
The Blue Devils are beginning to come together as a team and have benefited from two strong weeks of practice since returning from Orlando. The team typically plays 18 holes in practice, but some players braved the recent rainstorms to put in extra work after completing their organized practices.
“We actually got a lot of good practice out there. It’s a testimony to the toughness of these players,” Brooks said. “On one of the days…the Maguires [Leona and her twin sister, Lisa] got out there and played an extra 18 holes. We’re pretty well-prepared despite the bad weather.”
Duke will certainly be a focused team when it arrives in Chapel Hill to begin play Friday. If the Blue Devils get off to another strong start and maintain some momentum through the weekend, they should be in contention for their third straight Tar Heel Invitational title when the tournament wraps up Sunday.
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