Freshman Leona Maguire continued her recent run of dominance at the NCAA regional this week, but of greater significance for the Blue Devils may have been the resurgence of junior Celine Boutier.
With both golfers clicking at once, the rest of the college golf world should be very concerned.
No. 5 Duke claimed its second NCAA regional title in three years Saturday afternoon at The Warren Course in South Bend, Ind., buoyed by standout performances by Maguire and Boutier. After claiming the ACC individual title April 18, Maguire won her second consecutive tournament with a four-under-par ledger, one stroke ahead of the runner-up Boutier.
"The whole team played really solid all week. We've been preparing really well all season leading up to regionals and nationals, so to get the win was really nice and to get an individual title is always a bonus," Maguire said. "Me and Celine have had a few battles in the past and I'm sure we'll have more in the future."
After her 54 holes in South Bend, Maguire—the nation's top-ranked golfer—has now carded nine consecutive rounds at or below par. The Cavan, Ireland, native made her move during Friday's second round, hitting 16 greens in regulation to set up "stress-free" par putts and converted several birdie opportunities.
But as impressive as Maguire has been of late, Duke at last saw Boutier return to the form that catapulted her to the No. 1 ranking and National Player of the Year honors as a sophomore, leading the Blue Devils to the national championship in the process.
Boutier—who had carded just one under-par tournament since October—birdied her first hole Thursday and got on a roll from there. The Montrouge, France, native picked up another birdie on the fifth hole and added two more shortly after making the turn. Boutier gave one shot back with a bogey on the 14th hole but quickly regrouped, adding two more birdies on her last four holes to finish the round at five-under and sleeping on a three-shot lead.
"My putting was so much better and so I feel like my game is really close to being at that level again, so it's really exciting for me," Boutier said. "I was feeling great and I felt really relaxed [in the first round], didn't put any pressure on myself and kept going and kept making more birdies."
Duke needed just a top-six finish at the regional at the regional to advance to the NCAA championship later this month, but the junior helped stake the Blue Devils to a five-stroke lead after the first round.
The importance of a locked-in Boutier was not lost on head coach Dan Brooks as his team aims for a seventh national title.
"I imagine it felt really, really good," Brooks said of Boutier's first round. "She and I didn't talk about it, but I could tell from the smile on her face that she was happy to be going low again. That bodes well for us going into the latter part of the season."
The second round belonged to Maguire, who birdied three of her first six holes to make up ground on Boutier, who rattled off eight pars on the front nine after opening the round with a bogey. Maguire finished the round with six of her 11 birdies for the tournament, moving to within a stroke of her teammate heading into the final 18 holes.
Friday's action was marred by heavy rain that produced a weather delay with three Blue Devils still needing to finish up their rounds. Maguire had just stepped into the 18th tee-box when she was instructed to return to the clubhouse to wait for the weather to improve—a wait that dragged on for three hours.
"We were just in the clubhouse trying to rest and stay hydrated because we really didn't know what was happening. At first they said it was going to be a half-hour, then it was an hour, then we stood on the tee box for 20 minutes and they brought us back in again," Maguire said. "It was a lot of hanging around."
The heavy rain continued overnight, creating a slower course for Saturday's final round. The wetter conditions had an effect on the scoring, as only two teams carded final rounds better than six-over-par.
Duke entered the final day with a one-over-par ledger and an eight-shot lead on Wake Forest, but the Demon Deacons clawed their way back into contention as the Blue Devils struggled on holes seven and eight. With both teams on the back nine, Wake Forest pulled even at 11-over-par and threatened to wrest away the regional title that had seemed well within Duke's grasp through the first 45 holes.
Boutier and sophomore Sandy Choi would not allow that to happen.
Choi birdied the 17th hole to give Duke some breathing room and Boutier added a birdie on her final hole of the afternoon to push Duke's 54-hole total down to nine-over-par. The Demon Deacons put a ball in the drink down the stretch and settled for second, three strokes back of the Blue Devils.
"At one point, GolfStat was showing that we were tied with Wake, and I hadn't seen some of the scores. Sandy's final three scores had no come in yet and she's really solid down the stretch, just real calm player," Brooks said. "I had a feeling we were going to get a birdie out of her in the last three holes and sure enough, she birdied the 17th hole."
Boutier's birdie on the final hole was not enough to chase down Maguire, who finished off an even-par round with five straight pars to claim the individual victory.
Duke next sets its sights on Bradenton, Fla., for the NCAA championships May 22-27, looking to defend its national title. The five-day tournament will feature a new wrinkle, match play, which Brooks said he will look to incorporate into the Blue Devils' routine during the next two weeks.
"It's always nice to win, particularly late in the season," Brooks said. "It was a good golf course with small greens and everything was sort of wet, so they're hitting long shots in there, especially today. All of that is good prep for nationals.
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