Duke In Second Place After Opening Round Of ACC Championship

Friday, April 20

New London, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Duke Men?s Golf Team To Compete In Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate

Duke In Second Place After Opening Round Of ACC Championship

4/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

NEW LONDON, N.C. -- Junior Michael Schachner fired a three-under 69 to lead Duke to a two-under 286 in the opening round of the 2007 ACC Tournament on Friday at Old North State Club. The Blue Devils closed the day one shot out of first place.

Clemson shot a three-under-par 285 to hold a slim one-stroke lead over Duke, while Georgia Tech and North Carolina are two strokes back in a tie for third place at one-under 287. Clemson's Kyle Stanley and Virginia Tech's Ryan Sypniewski both fired four-under 68s to tie for the individual lead. Schachner, Georgia Tech's Roberto Castro and North Carolina's Martin Ureta are tied for third place at three-under 69.

"I think the most exciting thing about today's round is that we have five guys in the mix." said interim head coach Brad Sparling. "We didn't play our best but all of the guys were out there grinding. We are looking forward to the next two days and expect to play even better tomorrow."

Schachner carded six birdies, matching Sypniewski for the most on the day, and added nine pars en route to his sixth round of under-par golf on the season. The Libertyville, Ill., native played the first 12 holes of his round at even-par before recording birdies on No. 13, No. 14 and No. 16 to get to three-under. Schachner nearly matched the low round of the day but lipped out a birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole.

"I drove the ball well today and hit my irons solid throughout the round," said Schachner. "I didn't putt that great, but I also didn't really miss any putts that I definitely should have made. All in all it was a pretty solid round."

Sophomore Clark Klaasen also had a solid round with a one-under 71. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native is tied for seventh overall along with Virginia Tech's Nick MacDonald, Boston College's Bob Reed, Wake Forest's Brendan Gielow and Maryland's Chris Gold. Klaasen had three birdies and 13 pars on the day.

Adam Long, a freshman from St. Louis, Mo., shot an even-par 72 on Friday. Long opened with a two-over 38 on the front nine, before carding birdies on No. 11, No. 13 and No. 16 to get to one-under on the day. He narrowly missed a par putt on the par-3 17th to fall back to even-par and then burned the edge of the cup on a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to close with a backside 34 (-2). Long, ranked 76th in the latest Golfstat/Sagarin Performance Index, is tied for 12th with 10 other players.

Freshman Jeff Edelman added a two-over 74, while senior Jake Grodzinsky shot a three-over 75. Edelman, who is tied for 26th entering the second round, finished the day tied for third in the tournament with 14 pars. He carded his lone birdie of the day on the par-5 opening hole. Grodzinsky's round included 13 pars and a birdie on the par-5 11th hole. The Cornville, Ariz., native is currently tied for 33rd overall.

Through one round of play it is a close race for the team title with seven teams are within 10 strokes. Following Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech and North Carolina in the top four spots, Virginia Tech is fifth in the team standings at one-over 289. Virginia and Wake Forest are tied for sixth at five-over 293 while NC State is eighth at seven-over 295, Florida State is ninth at 10-over 298, Maryland is 10th at 12-over 300 and Boston College is 11th at 22-over 310.

The Blue Devils begin teeing off in second round action on Saturday at 11:10 a.m. Duke will be paired with Clemson and Georgia Tech.

The teams and coaches wore Duke blue ribbons in memory of the late Duke head coach Rod Myers, who passed away on March 30, 2007. They also wore black wrist bands in observance of the tragic events that took place at Virginia Tech earlier in the week.

ACC Select is covering the 2007 ACC Men's Golf Championship for fans across the country to watch for the first time ever with live and on-demand online video streams exclusively on ACCSelect.com. Exclusive live coverage of the ACC Men's Golf Championship will be available at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 22. ACC Select's exclusive coverage will also include a recap of first and second rounds of competition, live final round coverage and the awards ceremony. Viewers can watch the Championship live or on-demand with an All Event Pass ($9.99 per month) or on a per-event basis ($3.99 per event).

Friday Scores
Michael Schachner 36-33=69 (-3)
Clark Klaasen   35-36=71 (-1)
Adam Long   38-34=72 (E)
Jeff Edelman   37-37=74 (+2)
Jake Grodzinsky 38-37=75 (+3)

Saturday Tee Times
11:10 ? Taylor Hall (Ga. Tech), Jake Grodzinsky (Duke), Phillip Mollica (Clemson)
11:20 ? Kevin Larsen (Ga. Tech), Jeff Edelman (Duke), Sam Saunders (Clemson)
11:30 ? Chesson Hadley (Ga. Tech), Adam Long (Duke), David May (Clemson)
11:40 ? Cameron Tringale (Ga. Tech), Clark Klaasen (Duke), Tanner Ervin (Clemson)
11:50 ? Roberto Castro (Ga. Tech), Michael Schachner (Duke), Kyle Stanley (Clemson)