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.
Despite winning eight ACC titles, Duke has never won a national championship in 21 appearances on golf’s biggest stage—the closest the Blue Devils have come was second place in 1947.
But this year, No. 18 Duke has gotten hot at the right time, winning the ACC championship before finishing second in a hotly contested NCAA regional field in Baton Rouge, and it looks to continue its success entering this weekend’s championship at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill. The field will play three rounds Friday-Sunday before it is reduced to 15 teams and the top nine individuals not on one of those teams by Monday for the stroke-play competition. The top eight teams will then advance to match play Tuesday before Wednesday's championship round.
Despite looking lost at the outset of the spring season, the Blue Devils have surged to finish in the top five in their last five tournaments.
“At the end of the day, it’s just golf,” Duke head coach Jamie Green said. “We’ve talked a little bit about preparing for the external things out there like the cameras and ropes, but if they focus just on the golf course and themselves, which isn’t necessarily easy to do, I would put them up against anyone in the country, especially with how they’re playing right now.”
As they were for most of the season, the team's scoring leaders Alex Smalley and Chandler Eaton were the crux of the Blue Devils’ success in the regional, both tying for third overall after shooting even par.
It was an encouraging sign for Green to see Eaton atop Duke’s scoring charts after the talented freshman had not finished in the top two of the starting lineup since March 13-14. During that stretch, Smalley had picked up the slack, finishing in the top 10 in three of four tournaments.
Now, Eaton appears to be fully harnessing his potential that he displayed at times earlier this season, finishing in the top seven four consecutive times during one stretch.
Eaton has not been consistent with his driver, ranking outside the top 100 in fairways hit, but has been much more consistent as he got closer to the hole, ranking sixth in the country in greens in regulation and in the top 40 in total short game.
But unlike most freshman, Green says Eaton has the mental game under control, which has given him one of the best freshman seasons that he has seen in nine years in Durham.
“What is paramount in succeeding when you get to the postseason is how under control you can keep your emotions when something doesn’t go your way,” Green said. “He’s done that all year, and shown maturity beyond his years.”
Duke will need to lean on some of its more experienced players in order to avoid another slow start, a characteristic of its spring season. The Blue Devils had a tough start in Baton Rouge, but quickly rebounded, something they will look to avoid against stiffer competition this weekend.
Duke will look to the only player on its roster with NCAA championship experience, junior Jake Shuman, to steady its nerves in the early going—in 2015, Shuman finished 1-under-par, good for a tie for 16th.
“You look at the number of days and holes and it seems like a long time, but once you’re out there, it goes really fast,” Green said. “The guys that can bounce back from mistakes without letting anything snowball are going to be the ones that succeed. He did a very good job of that his freshman year. I expect nothing less this time around.”
Duke's lineup is rounded out by two grizzled seniors, Matt Oshrine and Alexander Matlari, who have shown they are capable of playing elite golf at times this season. Oshrine has grabbed three top-10 finishes and Matlari carried the squad at times, earning three top-five finishes.
However, Matlari has struggled a bit as of late, closing his regional outing with a 7-over-par 79 and a 75, and has finished in the top 10 just once since March.
“You can’t hide the numbers," Green said. “But it’s a team game. We’ve been successful in the last two outings, and he’s been a part of that with his leadership and how he handles himself on the golf course. He and Matt as our seniors have done an excellent job as leaders. I haven’t seen anything in his game that he really needs to bounce back from."
Rich Harvest Farms also hosted the women’s championship earlier this week, when rain and windy conditions forced play to be cut short a round and made it difficult to score.
Rain is in the forecast for Friday and Monday, but it didn’t seem to concern Green.
“You can’t do anything about anyone else’s game,” Green said. “You can’t control the weather. But if we take care of own business, I like our chances as good as anyone in the country.”
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.