Duke golfer Leif Olson has played the Duke Golf Club course more than any other player in this week's NCAA championship field, but that does not mean the sophomore entered the tournament with an advantage.
Challenged by fast greens, high rough and windy conditions, Olson, who qualified for the championships by winning a playoff last week at the East regionals in Williamsburg, Va., shot a 4-over par 76. This score placed him 10 strokes off the lead and put him in danger of missing the cut, which will be determined after today's round.
"I didn't feel any pressure out there today," Olson said. "It was just one of those days where you hit a bad shot and you catch a fly out of the rough.... I was just struggling getting up and down."
The most disappointing part of Olson's troubles around the green was that the sophomore's ball-striking and course management was solid throughout the round. As Duke coach Rod Myers put it, Olson "hit way too many good shots today to shoot a 76."
The Golden, Colo. native suffered his worse difficulties on the par-five 12th hole, where he hit the ball into the greenside water and could only muster a damaging double-bogey. He also finished his round on a down note at No. 9, where he bogeyed the 491-yard par four after hitting his drive into the rough, hitting an approach from 90 yards out into the greenside bunker, and two-putting once he got himself out of the bunker.
Meanwhile, fellow ACC player Kris
According to Mikkleson, preparation was a major key to his impressive first round.
"I was hitting the ball pretty well on the range this morning and had worked really hard this week on my speed putting," Mikkleson said after the round. "I felt comfortable all day. I felt confident in my swing and with my speed on the greens."
The presence of Arizona's Barnes and Georgia Tech's Mikkleson on the top of the individual leaderboard is also indicative of the team scores going into the second round. As a team, Arizona fired the only under-par round of the day, finishing at 8-under par and building a commanding lead over the second-place Yellow Jackets, who collectively shot a 1-over 289.
But the superb play of the Wildcats was largely an aberration. All in all, many of the participants considered yesterday's round to be a difficult day at the Duke Golf Club. Eleven teams shot 10-over par or worse, and many of the players commented after the round that the course was very demanding.
"The course is playing really well," Olson said. "The rough is very thick and is playing like the U.S. Amateurs. [The long grass] just grabs your club, so I think staying in the fairway is so huge. I bet if you look at the guys who were under par today, they didn't miss many fairways."
Arizona State coach Randy Lein voiced similar sentiments, despite the fact that his team, like Olson, struggled throughout the round. According to Lein, the wet conditions of the first day had both positive and negative effects on the quality of the participants' play.
"I think its a great venue for a national championship," Lein said. "It's got good length. I think with the rain that they've had, the course is playing a little bit longer, so it's made it that much more difficult. But also, you're not going to have shots running through the fairway into the rough."
While Lein hopes his team can mount a challenge to tournament leader and in-state rival Arizona tomorrow, he knows that sitting in 19th place is hardly an ideal position for making a comeback. And in the individual competition, Duke's Olson will have a similar up-hill struggle to make the cut. Nevertheless, the former U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team member believes that his familiarity with the course could yield some positive second-round results.
"I still think I have an advantage playing this course," Olson said. "It is just like playing the course I am used to; they just souped it up a little bit."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.