Duke In Third Heading Into Final Round At UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate

Monday, October 27

Greensboro, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Blue Devils Open NCAA East Regional Play On Thursday

Duke In Third Heading Into Final Round At UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate

10/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Freshman Spencer Anderson continue his strong play in the fall with rounds of 72 and 71 on Monday at the UNCG Bridgestone Golf Collegiate. As a team, Duke fired a three-over 291 to move into first place after one round of play. The Blue Devils shot a one-over 289 in the second round at Forest Oaks Country Club (par 72, 7,197 yards) to slip five shots off the lead.

"We hung tough today for not playing particularly well," said head coach O.D. Vincent. "The conditions were difficult this morning, but we competed well."

Michigan fired a 293-282=575 (-1) to grab the top spot in the event heading into Tuesday's final round at Forest Oaks Country Club. Michigan State is four shots back after shooting 293-286. Duke is third with a four-over 580, while Louisville (+7, 583) and Pepperdine (+9, 585) round out the top five.

Anderson's one-over 143 puts him in a fifth place tie, four shots behind leaders Payne Gniewek (Michigan State) and Bill Rankin (Michigan). Gniewek had rounds of 69 and 70, while Rankin followed a three-over 75 in the morning round with a blistering eight-over 64 in the afternoon.

Anderson, a freshman from Pacific Palisades, Calif., carded three birdies, 12 pars and three bogeys in the morning round. The afternoon session saw him open with a bogey on No. 3. He recovered with birdies on No. 6 and No. 7 to move to one-under. Following six straight pars, Anderson birdied No. 14 and No. 15 to get to three-under with five holes remaining. Bogeys on No. 16 and No. 1 dropped him to one-under and he finished off with a par on No. 2 for the first under-par round of his collegiate career.

Junior Adam Long shot a one-over 73 in the first round and an even-par 72 in the afternoon session to move into a tie for 11th. The St. Louis, Mo., native carded birdies on No. 5 and No. 7 in the opening round but suffered three bogeys over the final 12 holes. In the afternoon round, he opened with a birdie on No. 2 but dropped to one-over with a double-bogey on No. 3. Long recovered to birdie No. 5, No. 7 and No. 10 to get to two-under before dropping three strokes with bogeys on three of the next five holes. He got back to even-par with a birdie on No. 18 and finished the day with a par on No. 1.

Sophomore Wes Roach shot 73-74=147 (+3) on Monday and is tied for 22nd overall. He had four birdies to go along with 25 pars and seven bogeys on the day.

Seniors Michael Quagliano and Clark Klaasen are tied for 40th overall at six-over (150). Quagliano struggled in the opening round to a six-over 78 before rebounding with an even-par 72 in the afternoon. He capped off the second round with an eagle on the 448-yard, par 4 18th hole. Klaasen fired a one-over 73 in the first round and a five-over 77 on the second 18 holes. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native carded two birdies and an eagle on the 552-yard, par 5 15th hole in the morning session.

Duke will open final round play on No. 1 at Forest Oaks Country Club beginning at 9:30 a.m. The Blue Devils will be paired with host UNC Greensboro, Maryland and Eastern Michigan in the final round.

"The scores are bunched pretty tight," added Vincent. "We look forward to giving tomorrow everything we have as it is our last day to compete until February."

Live scoring for final round action is available at www.golfstat.com.