Men's golf enters ACCs riding high after defeating Clemson

It may not feel like a year since the last Atlantic Coast Conference tournament for the men's golf team. It may feel more like a week.

Last weekend, at the BellSouth Yellow Pages tournament, Duke faced five of the eight teams it will face beginning this Friday in New London, N.C..

At the tournament, the Blue Devils achieved something they never would've expected, beating Clemson-defending ACC Tournament champion and current favorite. However, Duke also lost to two other ACC teams, North Carolina and Wake Forest.

"It gives us a lot of confidence when we've just beaten the favorite," coach Rod Myers said.

Confidence is important to Duke, considering it suffered two devastating losses earlier in the year. Competing in the Duke Golf Classic in the fall, the Blue Devils finished second-to-last among 15 teams. During the winter, they finished last among 15 teams in Puerto Rico.

Since then, Duke has focused on rebuilding, recording solid finishes in every competition during the spring. With the early season losses, however, Myers feels that the Blue Devils' mental attitude will be the most important factor at the conference championships.

"The most important thing is that our guys are realizing that we have an outside chance to win this tournament," Myers said. "Really, all we can do is play the best that we can play. We've really played solid the last couple days."

What the Blue Devils hope to avoid is a repeat of last year's ACC Tournament, where they finished sixth due to a disastrous performance on the back-nine in the second and third rounds.