A week after a disappointing fifth-place finish, Duke entered the final day of the Bryan National Collegiate with the lead, but once again failed to come away with a victory.
The Blue Devils carded a 44-over-par 908 in Browns Summit, N.C., two strokes off the lead, after shooting a 22-over on the final day of play. Duke started Sunday with a one-stroke advantage over Florida, but the Gators shot a 19-over in the last round to take the title. Junior Amanda Blumenherst also placed second individually with a three-day total of 297.
"We didn't have a great tournament," head coach Dan Brooks said. "Our scores were considerably higher than what we're capable of."
After turning in their worst score of the season, 918, at the Liz Murphy Collegiate Classic last weekend, the Blue Devils bounced back with a 1-over 294 on the first day of play. That total gave Duke a four-stroke lead over Florida. And Blumenherst had opened with the Blue Devils' lowest round of the weekend, a 2-under 70, to end the first day tied for second place. She made six birdies on the front nine, but knocked in only one more after the turn.
Sophomore Alison Whitaker and junior Jennie Lee also had strong first rounds for Duke, both recording scores of 73. The two finished the event tied for 21st and 29th place, respectively.
"We definitely played some better golf the first couple of days," Brooks said. "We did a better job of getting used to this golf course."
Nevertheless, one factor the Blue Devils had trouble adjusting to was the cold weather, which resulted in higher scores across the board. The lowest round for any team was 301 on Saturday and 305 on Sunday, when the temperature did not break 40 degrees.
Duke struggled with the conditions, but maintained its lead over the pack on the second day with a 16-over 304 to finish one stroke ahead of the Gators.
"[The weather] definitely had an effect on how high the scores were the whole tournament," Brooks said. "It's pretty hard to play golf at par or better in that kind of condition...[but] it was the same weather for everybody."
Blumenherst played through the cold well to shoot a 1-over Saturday, highlighted by an eagle on the 12th hole to remain tied for second place behind eventual champion Stacy Lewis from Arkansas, who recorded a 69 to match the lowest round of the tournament.
Duke now has a three-week layoff until the ACC Championships when it will play for its 13th-straight title.
"I'm excited about the two weeks we've got going into it [the ACC's]," Brooks said. "We're smart enough to realize that there are highs and lows in a season. You have to just patiently let those highs and lows occur without getting freaked out by them. This team's pretty good at letting the season unfold."
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