Blue Devils Tied For First After Opening Round Of ACC Championship

Friday, April 18

New London, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Blue Devils Tied For First After Opening Round Of ACC Championship

4/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

NEW LONDON, N.C. ? Senior Michael Schachner and freshman Matthew Pierce each fired three-under 69s on Friday to guide Duke into a first place tie with Florida State after the opening round of the ACC Championship at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point. The Blue Devils also received under-par rounds from Wes Roach (-2, 70) and Clark Klaasen (-1, 71) en route to a nine-under 279, the second-lowest team round by Duke in ACC Tournament history.

“Today was a solid start for us,” said head coach O.D. Vincent. “We hung in well after getting off to a slow start and had a well-balanced effort. We need to continue to make birdies and stay aggressive.”

First round leaders Duke and Florida State hold a three-stroke lead over North Carolina (-6, 282) with N.C. State, Clemson and Wake Forest all tied for fourth after shooting four-under 284s in the opening round. N.C. State's Matt Hill is the individual leader at five-under (67) with Wake Forest's Webb Simpson, Florida State's Matthew Savage and North Carolina's Chase MacFarland each one shot back. Duke has four players in the top 15 overall with Schachner and Pierce tied for fifth, Roach tied for 10th and Klaasen tied for 15th.

“We look forward to tomorrow's second round,” added Vincent. “Our goal is to put ourselves in good position Sunday afternoon with a chance to win. I am proud of our team. We are really improving and growing each and every day.”

Schachner opened his round with back-to-back birdies before sliding back to even-par at the turn following bogeys on No. 4 and No. 9. The Libertyville, Ill., native added a birdie on the par 4 12th hole and closed his day with birdies on No. 16 and No. 18 for a three-under 69. Schachner leads the ACC with 15 rounds of under-par golf this season, including a team-high seven rounds in the 60s.

Pierce played a bogey-free round en route to shooting a three-under 69 in the opening round. He posted three straight pars to begin the day before moving to one-under with a birdie on the par 5 fourth hole. He added a birdie on the par 3 seventh to get to two-under and rattled off six more pars before carding his third birdie of the day on the par 3 14th. Pierce tacked on four more pars to close the day with his second straight under-par round of the season and his fifth overall.

Roach, a freshman from Knoxville, Tenn., opened par-birdie before suffering back-to-back bogeys to slide to one-over through four holes of play. He rebounded with birdies on the par 4 sixth and ninth holes to get back to one-under at the turn. Roach moved to two-under with a birdie on No. 13 but gave the stroke back with a bogey on No. 14. Following three straight pars, Roach carded a birdie on the par 5 18th for a two-under 70 to match his best round of the year.

Klaasen got off to a rocky start with a double-bogey on No. 2 and a bogey on No. 3 to sit at three-over through three holes. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native responded by playing bogey-free golf over the remaining 15 holes of play. He began the climb back with birdie on the par 5 fourth hole and added a birdie on the par 3 seventh to get back to one-over. Following three straight pars, Klaasen birdied No. 11 and No. 12 to move to one-under on the day. He capped off the round with six straight pars for a 71, his eighth round of under-par golf on the season.

Sophomore Adam Long had a solid showing in the opening round with 14 pars, one birdie and three bogeys en route to a two-over 74. His 14 pars were tied for the second-most on the day. Long is tied for 33rd overall following 18 holes of play.

Duke will open second round play on Saturday beginning at 11:10 a.m. The Blue Devils will be paired with Florida State and North Carolina.

NOTES
*** Duke has led or been tied for the tournament lead after four consecutive rounds.

*** Duke played the par 3s at one-over, the par 4s at three-under and the par 5s at five-under in the opening round.

*** Pierce and Klaasen recorded two of the four birdies on the 181-yard, par 3 seventh hole on Friday.

*** Roach had one of four birdies at the 452-yard, par 4 ninth hole.

*** Schachner has shot even-par or better in five straight rounds. He has been below par in four of his last five rounds of golf.

*** Schachner has posted 20 consecutive counting rounds and has recorded a counting team score in 23 of 25 (.920) rounds played this season.

*** Through one round of play, Pierce is leading in par 3 scoring at two-under, while Roach leads the field in par 4 scoring at four-under.

*** Pierce has 11 birdies and just one bogey in his last 36 holes of golf. He played the first bogey-free round of his college career on Friday in the opening round of the ACC Championship.

*** Pierce has a 67.0 stroke average over his last 36 holes of play.

*** Roach matched a season-high with five birdies in the opening round.

*** Roach has a 71.0 stroke average in his last three rounds. He has two under-par rounds and an even-par round in that stretch.

*** Klaasen has posted 11 consecutive counting team scores and has been under-par in four of the last five rounds played.