Duke Tied for 12th Entering Day Three of NCAA Championship
By Scott Rich | June 2, 2011
For Lindy Duncan, it started with a tie for eighth place at the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship last weekend, shooting an even-par 288 over four rounds.
The Blue Devils continued their red-hot spring with a respectable finish at the ACC tournament, placing second overall in the team stroke-play event.
Only 12 shots down heading into the pivotal second round of the ACC Championship—on a day when North Carolina was pummeled by severe storms and wind—the Blue Devils knew they faced an uphill battle.
Riding an uncharacteristically long 12-tournament winless streak, No. 5 Duke has yet to take home a trophy this season despite being in contention nearly every tournament.
After a weekend of dominant play, the Blue Devils won the Irish Creek Collegiate with an eight-under performance, giving them their second tournament win of the spring.
Closing out the individual portion of the season, Duke relied on a late Sunday comeback to finish as runner-up to Alabama at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic this past weekend.
The No. 7 Blue Devils look to capture their first overall tournament victory of the year as top player Lindy Duncan seeks to defend her individual tournament title
Duke fired a team score of 276 yesterday to finish in a tie for third in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate.
The Blue Devils may have entered the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship seeded 10th out of 16, but it would seem nobody told them that.
Reigning ACC Player of the Year Lindy Duncan recorded her first victory of the year, winning the LSU Golf Classic in a playoff over Anna-Karin Ljungstrom of Louisville on the third extra hole.
Freshman Laetitia Beck shot a 66 on day one and led the Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate for a time before ultimately finishing in a tie for third at the tournament, which wrapped up play Tuesday.
According to head coach Dan Brooks, the time is now for his young Duke team to return to its place among the nation’s elite, as the Blue Devils return after an unsatisfying fall season.
The tournament may have been called the Oven Experience, but the Blue Devils handled the heat yesterday to beat the Horned Frogs.
After leading the Landfall Tradition for the first two rounds, No. 5 Duke collapsed on the final day of action—with four Blue Devils shooting an 80 or worse.
The reality is that most rookie golfers are not good enough to err in the way that freshman Blue Devil Yaroslav Merkulov did.
Duke posted its best finish of the year this weekend, earning third place at the Tar Heel Invitational behind deft underclassmen performances.