This past weekend, the men's golf team found out the hard way why golf is not a 16-hole sport.
Nestled in prime position to make a run at the tournament title, or perhaps more realistically, a top-three finish, the Blue Devils approached the sevententh tee at the Imperial Lakes Golf Club in Lakeland, Fla., on Sunday afternoon looking for a fitting climax to a solid weekend. Instead, Duke finished with two dismal holes that swept it into a tie for fourth place, eight shots behind champion Columbus College.
"Overall, I think we have to look at the whole tournament," Blue Devil head coach Rod Myers said. "I thought this was a real positive step for us. We're certainly showing that we can play really well at times. We're still a little more inconsistent than we would like. I thought we were getting past that one [Sunday], but the last couple holes brought those scores up."
Considering Duke's first-round scores, improvement would have seemed almost like an impossible task. The Blue Devils completed Friday's opening round alone in second place at 276, only one one shot behind frontrunning University of Alabama. The entire team played a part in the low score.
Three sub-70 rounds were shot by Duke's top three golfers. Two even par rounds by junior Eric Bertrand and sophomore Chris Schmid offered the necessary support at the lower spots. It was a combination of scores that is not seen too often in collegiate golf. It was a day that many teams can only dream of having.
"We really played great the first day," Myers said. "It seemed like everyone played very solidly, with Jason [Buha] shooting 67, Joe [Ogilvie] shooting 68 and Justin [Klein] shooting 69. It was about as good as we can play."
Unfortunately for Duke, the momentum that was generated Friday had to be held over until Sunday's final round. The tournament was shortened from 54 holes down to 36 due to the bath that the course took on Saturday. It was just another case where the elements took control.
When the Blue Devils finally stepped up to the first tee on Sunday, the squad knew it was going to be a battle down to the wire. Seven additional teams were within eight shots of leader Alabama, and included in this group were Atlantic Coast Conference archrivals Wake Forest and North Carolina State. Eventual champion Columbus started the day five shots behind Duke.
By the time the team had made the turn and started home, it had begun to feel the heat from nearby. Even though Duke had nearly played an even par outward nine in difficult, windy conditions, it had already lost four shots to the surging Wolfpack. Other fast charging teams also appeared, and in the end it was the bogey-riddled 18th that let the Demon Deacons and the Wolfpack slip into second at 573, one shot ahead of the Blue Devils.
Regardless of the final two holes, the bottom line is that the team left Florida realizing that it can put up the numbers capable of competing with anybody in the country. Buha's exceptional second place finish with rounds of 67-72 only solidified the top three spots that much more. With All-Americans Ogilvie and Klein generally around the top, much of the Blue Devils' future appears dependent upon the fourth and fifth spots.
When they're on, like in Friday's round, the Blue Devils are a top-caliber team. When they're not, they are an average team. It will be a consistent overall effort that will decide how far this team goes. Fortunately, it appears that the team itself is beginning to understand its capabilities.
"I think our guys realize we do have a good golf team," Myers said. "We just need to keep building around it. I think our goals are probably starting to change a little right now. We're not thinking so much about whether we're going to get to the NCAAs, but how we're going to be when we get there.
"I think all of us feel right now if we just continue to play like we are, then getting to the NCAAs will not be that much of a chore. It will be a matter of whether we can then be ready to advance."
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