CHAPEL HILL—With the No. 1 amateur in the world preparing to qualify for the LPGA Tour, the Blue Devils traveled to the Tar Heel Invitational looking for their fourth straight win at the event.
But a tough three days on North Carolina's Finley Golf Course showed Duke has a long way to go to stay among the nation's best without Leona Maguire.
A junior, Maguire sat out the event, and without her the No. 14 Blue Devils notched to a 10th-place finish at the 54-hole event Friday through Sunday. Although junior Gurbani Singh tied for sixth individually at 3-under-par, Duke's other players struggled throughout the weekend and the team finished with a three-day total of 22-over-par—32 strokes behind tournament champions Wake Forest.
“Our previous two tournaments, even though we didn’t finish too high, I felt very good about them.” Duke head coach Dan Brooks said Sunday. “This tournament was one that I don’t feel as good about. I'm not exactly sure what I don't feel good about but I know we're a much better team than what we did here.”
With NCAA champion Virginia Elena Carta, senior Sandy Choi, freshman Ana Belac and junior Lisa Maguire playing inconsistent golf, Singh put together one of the best performances of her career.
The New Delhi native opened the tournament with a 2-under-par 70 Friday, highlighted by four birdies and a 30-foot putt on the eighth hole. After a disappointing second-round 75, Singh bounced back, rocketing up the leaderboard with a Sunday 68.
After an even-par stretch, Singh notched four birdies on holes 5 through 8 to notch the second top-six finish of her career—she also took sixth as a freshman at the ACC championship.
“The first 14 holes, I was hitting it so close but not sinking any putts.” Singh said of her round Sunday. “I was annoyed at that time. I was like, ‘I need to sink putts.’ So I sank the first one, and then the second, and then the third, and I was so confident when I was walking up for the fourth I was like ‘this is going in,’ and then it went in. It was the best way I could have possibly finished.”
Carta, who has struggled since her dominant individual NCAA championship win, posted a 4-over-par 76 Friday, but put together 36 holes of even-par golf to tie for 22nd. The Udine, Italy, native used three birdies in a second-round five-hole stretch to get back on track, and shot 72 Saturday and Sunday for a three-day total of 4-over-par.
The Blue Devils' only senior, Choi made four birdies in the first round, but two costly double bogeys sent her to a Friday 74. The Seoul, South Korea, native made a highlight-reel eagle Saturday, but still shot 74, and was unable to get off the bogey train Sunday en route to a three-day total of 7-over-par and a 37th-place finish.
Without Leona Maguire, Belac and Lisa Maguire have to be in Duke's five-woman lineup, and both players had a rough weekend. After opening the tournament with two rounds of 72, Belac shot a 10-over-par 82 Sunday, and Maguire finished 91st with a 54-hole ledger of 22-over-par.
Leona Maguire is preparing for the first event in LPGA Q-School Oct. 17-23, and if she is successful Brooks and his team will have to figure out how to get by without the Olympian—something they could not do this weekend.
“Leona is doing what she needs to be doing right now,” Brooks said. “If she wants to do the Q-School, she needs to do it right, and that's what she's doing. Our problems here at UNC, sure it's going to be a factor not having Leona here, but our problems were not about Leona. We're way better than what we shot at this tournament.”
The Blue Devils will return to the course on Halloween for the East Lake Cup in Atlanta.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.