The Duke men's golf team capped off a successful fall season with a fourth place finish at the inaugural Landfall Tradition played at the Country Club of Landfall at UNC-Wilmington. Mike Castleforte played three sound rounds of golf and finished in a tie for fourth individually.
"We didn't play as well as we would have liked," Castleforte said. "I think we were tired and flat from last week's West Coast trip."
Defending NCAA champion Minnesota won the tournament, beating host UNC Wilmington in a playoff. Both teams finished the 54 hole event at 863 while Missouri shot a 870 and finished third.
The Blue Devils shot rounds of 292, 289 and 293. Duke golfers were hampered by cold temperatures during yesterday's final round.
The individual crown was shared by two Minnesota golfers, Matt Anderson and Justin Smith who each shot 211.
Besides Castleforte, Duke freshman Ryan Blaum shot 219 and tied for 13th. Leif Olson fired a 221, finishing 18th. Both Blaum and Olson struggled during yesterday's final round shooting three-over-par 75.
Castleforte was pleased with his overall play during the weekend but was again hurt by mediocre putting during the final round. He shot a one-under-par 71 during each of his first two rounds and fired a 73 yesterday.
"I am a very streaky putter," Castleforte said. "I was putting well during my first two rounds but the putts just seemed to lip out on Sunday. Putting has been my problem in final rounds in the past."
While disappointed about not playing better, Castleforte remains excited about the fall season that saw Duke win the Nelson last weekend and have several other strong performances. On the heels of last week's win, the Blue Devils rose to No. 5 in the golfstat rankings for collegiate golf teams.
"While we didn't play a great final round, we have a lot of momentum going into the winter offseason," Castleforte said.
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