Blue Devils Drop Pair Of Matches At Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship

Sunday, October 28

Greensboro, Ga.

All Day

Duke University

vs. Charlotte

Duke Ranked 12th In Latest Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches? Poll

Blue Devils Drop Pair Of Matches At Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship

10/29/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, GA ? The Duke men's golf team dropped its opening two matches of the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship at the Lake Oconee Course at Reynolds Plantation. The Blue Devils dropped a 4-0-1 match to ninth-seed Florida in the opening round on Sunday and fell 3-1-1 to top-seed Charlotte in the consolation bracket in a match that began Sunday and concluded Monday morning.

In the loss to the Gators, freshman Matthew Pierce halved his match with Bank Vongvanij. Pierce opened strong by winning the first two holes (No. 2, No. 3) before Vongvanij responded to move the match to all-square through five holes of play. Pierce countered by winning holes No. 7, No. 9, No. 10 and No. 12 to take a four-up lead. Vongvanij rebounded to win four of the remaining six holes to halve the match.

Wes Roach and Andrew Giuliani battled throughout their matches before each player fell 2 and 1. Roach fell behind two holes early in the day before carding wins on No. 11 and No. 12 to get back to all-square against Billy Horschel. Horschel moved to three-up with four holes to play. Roach responded by taking holes No. 18 and No. 1 to get to one-down with two to play, but Horschel closed the door with a win on No. 2.

Giuliani halved his first three holes with Will Strickler before losing five straight holes. He stopped the run with wins on No. 11 and No. 12, but Strickler took No. 14 to get back to four-up. Giuliani mounted a late charge with victories on No. 17 and No. 18 before Strickler halved No.1 for the 2 and 1 win.

Junior Clark Klaasen fell 3 and 2 to Toby Ragland. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native fell behind two holes early before moving to one-up with a birdie on No. 13. Ragland posted wins on No. 14, No. 16 and No. 17 before closing the match with a win on No. 1.

Senior Michael Schachner got off to a terrible start in his match with Manuel Villegas dropping the first six holes of play. He battled back to get to three-down, but could not get any closer.

In the consolation bracket, the Blue Devils faced Charlotte, the top-ranked team in the Coaches Poll and the top seed overall at the match play. Charlotte fell 3-2 to Coastal Carolina in the opening round. Charlotte captured a 3-1-1 win over Duke in a closely contested match that was suspended due to darkness on Sunday and concluded early Monday morning.

Giuliani, a junior from New York, posted a one-up win over Trevor Murphy. Giuliani was down two holes with nine to play before turning things around with three straight wins on No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 to move to one-up when play was halted because of darkness with three holes remaining. Murphy came out Monday morning and knotted the contest, before Giuliani won the ninth hole and secured the victory by halving the closing 10th hole.

Klaasen battled Stefan Wiedergruen to a draw in his match. After falling behind two holes with nine remaining, Klaasen posted wins on No. 3 and No. 5 to get back to all-square when Sunday's action was stopped because of darkness. Wiedergruen struck first on Monday by winning the opening hole, but Klaasen took the next hole and the two players matched each other shot for shot on the final two holes to finish the match all-square.

Roach, a freshman from Knoxville, Tenn., battled through a back and forth match with Corey Nagy before falling 1 up. Roach struck first with a win on No. 14 before Nagy got back to all square with a birdie on No. 18. Nagy won No. 3, but Roach birdied No. 4 to again tie the match. Nagy won No. 5 and took a 1 up lead when play was suspended. Roach came on Monday and squared the match with a birdie on the par 5 seventh hole but following a tie on No. 8, Nagy claimed the 1 up win with a birdie on the ninth hole.

Sophomore Adam Long also suffered a one hole defeat in the consolation round. After falling behind Andrew DiBitetto four holes with 12 to play, Long fought all the way to one down with five to play with wins on No. 1, No. 6 and No. 7. Long could not get any closer as DiBitetto matched him shot for shot over the final five holes of play. Schachner struggled for the second consecutive match falling 8 and 7 to Jonas Enander Hedin.

Duke, which concluded its fall season at the match play, will return to action with the SunTrust Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. (Feb. 9-10).