Duke's 2006-07 season will be remembered not for what the Blue Devils won, but for what they lost. Legendary head coach Rod Myers passed away from leukemia in the spring, capping a difficult year for the team on and off the course.
Despite the harsh conclusion to the season-Duke failed to win a tournament after September-optimism abounds in Durham for the 2007-08 season, thanks largely in part to last season's emergence of Adam Long.
The sophomore from St. Louis, Mo. fits the criteria of a star student-athlete: he's humble and well-spoken, an Academic All-American and quite good at his sport. In fact, Long played well enough early in his freshman year to reach the top of college golf.
"After the Fighting Illini Invitational [in late September], I was ranked No. 1 in the country for a little while, and for me it wasn't a big deal," Long says. "The guys gave me a hard time for it, but I took it in stride."
In the end, Long's-and Duke's-season comes back to that tournament at Olympia Fields Country Club in Chicago. The Blue Devils outclassed a field loaded with top teams to take the title, but that week will always be remembered more as Myers' last victory than Long's coming out party.
"I will remember that for a while because I think it was Adam's first tournament he played in college and finished second, but it was the last tournament we won with Coach Myers," senior Michael Schachner said. "I'm sure many years from now he will still be remembered as the father of this age of Duke golf."
That attitude-the reverential, team-first mentality that appears so at odds with the inherent individuality of golf-is one of the things that makes Long, Schachner and the rest of this squad such a dynamic mix. Long cites Myers' influence as the reason he chose Duke over "just about every school in the country", and he is clearly delighted to be able to play golf with teammates who complement each other so well.
"I love the team atmosphere," Long says. "Over the summer, I've played in a few tournaments on my own, and if I mess up or play a bad round, my tournament is pretty much over, and I'll be mad at myself all day. During the season, though, there's a little less pressure because you know if you have a bad day, your teammates will be there to pick you up, like when I shot 78 in the NCAAs and Schachner went and shot a 60."
The upcoming season promises many things for the Blue Devils: a new coach-O.D. Vincent, who comes over from UCLA-higher expectations and a whirlwind beginning to the fall season that includes a tournament in Japan.
"I hope the professors will be understanding," Long said. "It's all about time management, though, and I think I can handle it."
If he can, Duke golf can certainly challenge for the ACC title and perhaps improve on its 13th-place finish at last season's NCAA Championships.
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