The men's golf team limped out of the consolation bracket after faltering late in its first match of the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship Friday.
The fourth-seeded Blue Devils dropped their afternoon match in the team's fall-season finale against 12th-seeded Augusta State, while still feeling the residual effects of the morning's heart-wrenching loss to 13th-seeded Arizona.
"Any time you're in a consolation match, you tend to feel down," head coach Rod Myers said.
Duke dropped the morning match against Arizona in a tie-breaker after blowing a late-round lead. The Blue Devils secured two individual victories from junior Jake Grodzinsky and senior Ryan Blaum to even up the team match at two, following losses by freshman Clark Klaasen and sophomore Michael Schachner.
"It was a close match and a huge letdown," Grodzinsky said.
Grodzinsky dispatched of Wildcat Henry Liaw, three and two, in a match he led nearly the entire way. Blaum won his match against Mark Lamb in a thriller that came down to the final hole. The senior led by one hole with two remaining but lost the 17th hole to fall into a tie. Blaum won the final hole, four strokes to three, giving the Blue Devils a second individual victory.
With a three-hole lead and five holes left to play, senior Nathan Smith appeared to be on his way to a victory, which would have propelled Duke into the next round.
"With about five holes to go, we were in control of the match for the first time," Myers said. "We had our chance to win, and let it get away."
Smith lost three consecutive holes but rallied to tie the final two and Duke halved the match. With each team holding two victories, the match was decided by a tie-breaker that was based on the margin of victory of the individual matches. Duke lost the tie-breaker by a score of 8-4.
"Everything comes down to putting in match play," Myers said. "Arizona putts regularly on bermuda grass, and that gave them the advantage."
Still reeling from the close loss, the Blue Devils fell to Augusta State in the afternoon three matches to two, netting victories only from Smith and Schachner.
"If we had won against Arizona, the momentum would have carried over," Grodzinsky said.
Neither Grodzinsky nor Blaum, who provided the two Blue Devil victories against Arizona, ever held a lead against their Augusta State opponents. Top-seeded Georgia captured the tournament title, defeating third-seeded Georgia Tech 3-2.
Duke now enters a three-month layoff before it resumes competition in February. Grodzinsky expressed his disappointment in the Blue Devils' fall season.
"We never had a tournament with four guys playing well," Grodzinsky said. "In the last two tournaments we had a shot to do well, but struggled as a team."
The spring season, which will resume February 26 in Puerto Rico. Myers said the respite should benefit his players, who he said were affected by fatigue recently.
"Some guys probably need a break after a long fall season," Myers said.
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