A year's experience can do funny things to sports teams. In one year, the Northwestern football team went from being the doormat of the Big Ten to being conference champions. In one year, the UCLA basketball team went from a national title to a first-round NCAA tournament loss to Princeton. In one year, the Duke men's golf team appears to have made a similar transition.
One year ago, Duke traveled to the Keswick Club Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va., and returned in a disappointing 11th place of 12 teams. This weekend, the team headed north to Charlottesville again, but this time came home with a second place ranking in a field of 14 teams.
Only the University of North Carolina outscored Duke, with a total of nine under par and two players in the top five. This is an impressive improvement for the Blue Devils, considering that they came into this year having lost two of their best players to graduation. In fact, this was Duke's second No. 2 finish in as many competitions this year.
Perhaps even more impressive is the play of senior Jason Buha, who took the individual title. His nearest competitor, Mark Wilson from North Carolina, was two strokes behind Buha in the final rankings.
This finish was as exciting a finish as a golf enthusiast can desire. After the first day of play, Buha and Wilson were tied for first, with Wilson a stroke ahead after the first round, and Buha catching up in the afternoon's action. The next day, though, Buha shot ahead, going 68 for the course, while Wilson had to settle for 70.
Buha's finish, like the team's, was highly improved from last year's play. His lowest 54-hole total for the 1995-1996 season was 213, nowhere near the career-low 204 he chalked up this weekend.
This win marks Duke golf's first individual championship since 1992, when former standout Mike Muehr shot 209 to win the Stanford Shoot-Out. Head coach Rod Myers said that Buha's play has been long awaited by both player and coach.
"We were really excited for Jason," Myers said. "One of his goals was to win some of these [competitions]. He's up there with the elite college players."
Duke's high finish was due to a mix of experienced players and talented freshmen. Buha's superlative finish was aided by the play of freshman Mike Christensen and junior Chris Schmid. Both finished in the top 25 in a field of 78 players. Christensen finished with the No. 12 ranking, an achievement not to be scoffed at. His potential was undoubtedly higher, though.
His second round was a career low of 67. Only one score in both days of competition could top that, and Christensen's 67 was the single best finish in Saturday afternoon's play. Unfortunately, his first and third rounds were not quite as outstanding, and he finished at 217 for the weekend, four over par.
"His potential is very high, he shot a 68 at [the Kiawah Tournament]. I really think at the morning round, he was nervous, uptight, off to a shaky start," Myers said. "He showed his true competitiveness the second round."
Schmid earned 22nd place, scoring only two behind Christensen. No Duke player finished lower than 58th in the tough ACC-dominated field, a testament to the depth of the team this year.
The Devils have nearly a month in which to perfect their games before they compete again. They will travel to Newport, R.I,. for the Newport Adams Cup on October 16-17, followed by a home-based meet a few days later at the Black & Decker Duke Golf Classic.
"We're really proud of where we are at this time, but I think we all realize that we can be much better, and this [break] will give us a chance to hone in on a few things, and... go up to Rhode Island and try to win it," Myers said.
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