Finishing sixth in the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate, Duke competed hard throughout, but ultimately could not string together enough consecutive shots to win. The Blue Devils finished round three with a score of 284 and an overall score of 2-over 854 at the Bulls Bay Golf Club in Awendaw, S. C.
Coming off an eighth-place finish at the General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach, the No. 32 Blue Devils looked for a strong showing against quality competition. Both No. 12 South Carolina and No. 9 Augusta State played in the event, but it was Louisiana State, the No. 28 team in the country entering the week, which won at Bulls Bay with a score of 845.
Duke returned to the Bulls Bay Club for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The course is known for its unique and untraditional design, and wind is always a factor there. Yet head coach Jamie Green said that wasn’t a particular disadvantage to the team.
“Obviously we’re upset about not taking the tournament,” Green said. “We feel a little better that other teams just played really well and we didn’t play poorly. They just really didn’t see as many puts drop.… That has been the theme of the week more than anything else. [Our players are] probably most disappointed about not making as many birdies when they had to.”
In individual play, freshman Brinson Paolini finished in a tie for eighth place, tops for the Blue Devils. Junior Wes Roach, freshman Julian Suri, sophomore Spencer Andersen and senior Adam Long rounded out the Duke finishers just five shots apart from one another.
Paolini opened the tournament with a 73 but followed that up with two consecutive rounds in the 60s. Green said that Paolini, who has finished in the top ten twice this season, has been making great strides.
“He’s been in a great frame of mind all week,” Green said. “There were a few shots that he’ll admit to about not quite being committed to, and that was really the difference between him not winning the golf tournament. He really struck the ball beautifully and put himself in a great position.”
Moving forward, Green said a drastic overhaul is not necessary in practice this week, but the team will still be working hard.
“We’re going to spend some time on putting greens,” Green said. “We’re not putting terribly, but we’re not quite making some of those opportunist shots.”
The Blue Devils will play their next tournament April 3-4 at the Administaff Augusta State Invitational in Augusta, Ga.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.