Duke Ties For Eighth Place At NCAA Championship

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Duke Ties For Eighth Place At NCAA Championship

6/4/2005 1:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

June 4, 2005

OWINGS MILLS, Md. - The Duke men's golf team posted its best NCAA finish in the 32-year tenure of Head Coach Rod Myers, finishing tied for eighth at the NCAA Championship at the par-70, 7,131-yard Caves Valley Golf Club. In a ceremony following the Championship, junior Ryan Blaum was presented with first-team All-America honors by the Golf Coaches Association of America. Blaum becomes Duke's first such honoree since Jason Widener in 1990. The second and third-team honorees will be announced on Monday.

The Blue Devils finished the event at 42-over-par, 27 shots behind overall champion Georgia, but only nine shots behind third-place Washington. James Lepp of Washington took home the individual title by besting Pepperdine's Michael Putnam on the third playoff hole.

The Blue Devils put forth a true team effort, as they finished eighth yet did not place an individual higher than 27th overall. That distinction went to Blaum, who finished the event at 10-over-par, stringing together scores of 70, 73, 76 and 71. In today's final round, he played the front nine in two-over, but put together a streak of three straight birdies on the back to card a 71.

Freshman Michael Schachner was next for Duke, finishing at 12-over par, tied for 40th place overall. After playing his first two rounds in two-under-par, Schachner carded a 77 in each of the final two rounds. The pressure was on the youngster today, as his two playing partners were the last two NCAA champions in Arizona State's Alejandro Canizares (2003) and UNLV's Ryan Moore (2004).

Fellow freshman Michael Quagliano was ultra-consistent over the last three rounds after opening with a 76 on Wednesday. He then went 71-74-72 to finish at 13-over, a score shared by sophomore Jake Grodzinsky. The lone Duke sophomore carded rounds of 74 on each of the first two days before a 76 in the rain yesterday. Today, though, he was excellent, posting five birdies en route to a one-under-par 69. Quagliano and Grodzinsky ended up tied for 42nd place overall.

Junior Nathan Smith's 73 today was his best round of the tournament as he finished 20-over, tied for 61st.

The future looks bright for the Blue Devils, as all the 2004-05 letterwinners will return next season.