Duke Climbs Into Fifth Place At ACC Championship

Saturday, April 18

New London, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Two

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Duke Climbs Into Fifth Place At ACC Championship

4/18/2009 8:00:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

NEW LONDON, N.C. -- Duke fired a four-under 286 on Saturday to move into fifth place heading into the final round of the ACC Championship at Old North State Club. Seniors Clark Klaasen and Michael Quagliano as well as junior Adam Long fired two-under 70s in the second round to pace the Blue Devils.

"We got off to a really good start and unfortunately stumbled a little bit during the middle of the round," said head coach Jamie Green. "The guys righted the ship and finished pretty strongly. We can certainly be proud of that and we are looking forward to tomorrow. Georgia Tech has distanced themselves a little bit but on this golf course with the greens as good as they are you can still make a move. That is what we have our eyes on for tomorrow."

Georgia Tech holds the tournament lead with an 11-under 565 with Clemson five shots back at six-under. Wake Forest, after shooting an 11-under 277 on Saturday, and N.C. State are tied for third at four-under 572 with Duke two shots back with a two-under 574.

N.C. State's Matt Hill and Georgia Tech's Cameron Tringale lead all ACC players after the second round. Both players are at eight-under par 136 through the two days of action. Klaasen is tied for fifth at four-under (140), while Long is 12th at one-under (143).

Klaasen opened his second round with nine straight pars before carding a birdie on the par 4 10th hole to get to one-under on the day. Bogeys on No. 11 and No. 13 dropped the Grand Rapids, Mich., native to one-over par with five holes remaining. Klaasen birdied the par 3 14th hole and added birdies on No. 17 and No. 18 for his second consecutive round of 70. He has now played six of his last eight rounds at even-par or better.

"Clark [Klaasen] was solid all day start to finish and had a nice push at the end of the day to post an under-par round," added Green. "He has been calm and assertive in both rounds. He is walking with a lot of confidence and playing with a lot of belief in his ability."

Long got off to a great start on Saturday with birdies on No. 1 and No. 2 to get to two-under par. He followed a bogey on his third hole with a birdie on the par 5 fourth hole to get back to -2. Long parred the next seven holes before going to three-under with a birdie on the par 4 12th hole. He posted five more pars before suffering a bogey on No. 18 to finish with a two-under 70.

"Adam [Long] really played solid golf throughout the day," said Green. "He didn't miss a shot until the 18th when he drew a really bad lie on the tee shot and hit his second shot into the hazard. It was an unfortunate finish but he really hit the ball beautifully and gave himself loads of birdie opportunities."

Quagliano carded seven pars and two birdies (No. 3 and No. 9) to shoot a two-under 34 on the front nine. The Ardsley, N.Y., native had a bogey on the par 4 10th hole to slip to one-under. He parred the next seven holes before registering a birdie on the par 5 18th hole to close the day at two-under. Quagliano is tied for 29th overall with a three-over 147 through 36 holes of play.

"There was nothing flashy about Michael's round today, but he really remained calm and steady and gave himself good opportunities throughout the day," said Green. "When he got in a little bit of trouble, he scrambled well and made some nice par saves. He keeps the ball in play and puts pressure on the golf course."

Sophomore Matthew Pierce is tied for 20th after posting a two-over 74 on Saturday. The San Juan Capistrano, Calif., native started slow with bogeys on No. 2 and No. 3 to slip to two-over early in the round. He rebounded with birdies on the par 5 fourth hole and the par 3 seventh to get back to even-par but suffered a bogey on No. 8 to make the turn at one-over. Following four straight pars, Pierce birdied the 191-yard, par 3 14th hole to get back to even-par. He suffered bogeys on No. 15 and No. 16 before parring out for a two-over 74, snapping a string of four straight rounds of under-par golf.

Wes Roach, a sophomore from Knoxville, Tenn., got off to a great start on Saturday with three birdies (No. 2, No. 5 and No. 7) on the opening seven holes to get to three-under par. He lost momentum on No. 8 when he hit two balls out of play and finished with a quadruple-bogey to fall to one-over. Roach recovered to par seven straight holes before going double-bogey-par-bogey on the final three holes to finish at four-over. He is tied for 49th with an eight-over 152 through two rounds.

The ACC Championship concludes on Sunday at the Old North State Club, which features a par 72, 7,102-yard layout. This year marks the eighth consecutive year and 13th overall that the ACC Men's Golf Championship has been held at the Old North State Club.

Duke will begin third round play at 10:10 a.m on Sunday. The Blue Devils will be paired with N.C. State and Virginia Tech in the final round. Sunday's round will be featured on ACC Select, beginning at 2:00 p.m. with live scoring available at www.golfstat.com.

ACC Championship Notes

*** Klaasen has carded under-par efforts in seven of his 11 career rounds at Old North State Club ... he is sixth all-time at Duke with 33 career under-par efforts.

*** Long and Klaasen share the team lead with seven under-par rounds on the year.

*** Duke recorded an under-par round at the Old North State Club for the fourth time in the last five rounds.

*** Duke had three players post under-par scores on Saturday, marking the fifth time this year three or more Blue Devils have been under-par in the same round.

*** Klaasen leads the tournament field in par 3 scoring at three-under through 36 holes of play

*** Quagliano is tied for second in par 3 scoring at one-under ... he is tied for fourth in the tournament with 28 pars in the first 36 holes of play.