Defending Champion Duke In Seventh After First Day Of ACC Men's Golf Championship

Friday, April 21

Baden Lake, N.C. (Old North State Golf Club)

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Duke Tied For 13th After Second Round Of Carpet Capital Collegiate

Defending Champion Duke In Seventh After First Day Of ACC Men's Golf Championship

4/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

The Duke University men's golf team is in seventh place overall after the first round of action in the 2006 ACC Golf Championship at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point. The Blue Devils fired an opening round 287 (-1) to trail Georgia Tech (276, -12) by 11 strokes.

Ryan Blaum, the defending ACC individual medalist, had the top round of the day for Duke with a two-under 70. The Coral Gables, Fla., native was sitting at three-over after a double-bogey on No. 11 before closing with five birdies on the final seven holes. Blaum shot a +1, 37 on the front nine with a three-under 33 on the back side of the course. He is currently tied with Taylor Hall (Georgia Tech) and Nick MacDonald (Va. Tech) for ninth place.

Sophomore Michael Schachner and freshman Clark Klaasen also had strong showings with matching 71s in the opening round. The duo along with seven others enter the second round tied for 12th overall.

Schachner opened with an eagle on No. 1 and had his score to three-under with two holes to play. After a three-putt bogey on No. 17, he caught an unfortunate break on No. 18. Schachner's second shot on the par-5 closing hole caromed off a rake outside of a greenside bunker into a water hazard. After the penalty stroke, Schachner bogeyed the hole to finish one-under.

Klaasen also had his score to three-under after carding an eagle on the par-4 13th. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native three-putted No. 15 and No. 17 to fall back to one-under for the day. Klaasen now has four rounds of under par golf this season.

Junior Jake Grodzinsky got off to a slow start with three bogeys on the first four holes. The Cornville, Ariz., native played even golf the rest of the way to finish tied for 41st with a three-over, 75.

Duke's fifth player, Bryce Mueller, shot a seven-over 79 in the opening round.

Georgia Tech fired a 12-under-par 276 and holds a two-stroke advantage over North Carolina after the first round of the ACC Men's Golf Championship. Scoring conditions were superb at the par 72, 7,102-yard layout at the Old North State Club as the expected rains never occurred and winds were minimal.

Georgia Tech senior Michael Barbosa fired a seven-under 65 to set the ACC Championship single round record at the Old North State Club. The tournament record is a 63 scored by Clemson's Brad Clark at the 1985 championship at the Bryan Park Golf Club in Greensboro, N.C. Matthew Savage of Florida State trails Barbosa by two shots after firing a five-under 67 and is in second place. Four players are tied for third place at four-under 68 ? North Carolina's Martin Ureta and Robert Riesen, Clemson's Brian Duncan and Maryland's John Eades.

In the team race, N.C. State and Maryland are tied for third place at four-under 284. Clemson and Florida State are one stroke back in a tie for fifth place at 285 while Duke is seventh at 287, Virginia Tech is eighth at 291, Wake Forest is ninth at 292, Virginia is 10th at 293 and Boston College is 11th at 314.

The 54-hole event continues through Sunday at the Old North State Club. Tee times begin at 8:30 a.m. each day and the public is invited to attend. Duke will be paired with Wake Forest and Virginia Tech for the second round of action. The Blue Devils begin teeing off at 9:10 a.m. on Saturday.

Raycom Sports and Lincoln Financial Sports, in conjunction with the Atlantic Coast Conference, are offering an exclusive live video webcast of the second & final rounds of the 2006 ACC Men's Golf Championship. Fans with broadband (high-speed) connections on personal computers will be able to watch live coverage of the event brought to you by Raycom Sports / Lincoln Financial Sports at www.theacc.com. To access the webcasts viewers will simply need to log on to www.theacc.com and click on the ACC Men's Golf Championship button below the “Events” tab of the home page. The webcasts are offered as part of an initial test period and will be provided free of charge to the user. Viewers will need to complete a brief registration prior to viewing the events. Live coverage will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 22 and Sunday, April 23 from the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point, New London, N.C.