Blue Devils Finish Third At ACC Championship

Sunday, April 19

New London, N.C.

All Day

Duke University

Day Three

Duke To Play In Administaff Augusta State Invitational This Weekend

Blue Devils Finish Third At ACC Championship

4/19/2009 8:15:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

NEW LONDON, N.C. -- Junior Adam Long fired a two-under 70 on Sunday to lead Duke to a third place finish at the ACC Championship. As a team, the Blue Devils shot a one-under 287 in the final round to finish with a three-under 861 for the tournament.

"We needed to play pretty solid down the stretch to move up the leaderboard," said head coach Jamie Green. "Obviously, we would have loved to be in contention for the championship, but our guys showed a lot of determination throughout. We were scrapping and clawing to save whatever shots we could coming in and that went a long way to us moving up a couple of spots on the leaderboard and be one of the under-par teams for the tournament."

Georgia Tech claimed the ACC Men's Golf Championship on Sunday with a three-stroke win over Clemson. The Yellow Jackets shot an 18-under 846, while the Tigers were at 15-under (849). Duke finished third with a three-under 861 with Wake Forest and N.C. State finishing tied for fourth at one-over (865).

N.C. State's Matt Hill and Clemson's David May both registered 10-under par 206 scores to share the 2009 ACC Men's Golf individual honors. Long and Klaasen both finished in the top 10 for the Blue Devils.

Duke used some strong play on the par 5s at the Old North State Club to climb two spots in the team standings on Sunday. The Blue Devils were 10-under on the four par 5s, with Matthew Pierce and Wes Roach each carding birdies on three of the four par 5s.

"The guys showed great resilience and a lot of determination this week, especially in the final round when the wind kicked up a good deal," said Green. "Everybody really contributed throughout the tournament. This is what I have looked for all year and the depth that we have developed is really going to help as we move on to regionals."

The Blue Devils picked up five strokes on the final two holes of play to overtake N.C. State, Wake Forest and Virginia Tech down the stretch. Duke had four birdies and a par on No. 18 to cap off its round.

"Standing on No. 16, I could see the scoreboard with us down around sixth or seventh place," said Long. "I saw Matt [Pierce] birdie No. 17 and then when I got in and realized everyone was getting birdie on the last hole. It was definitely exciting to finish that way. The last three holes of a tournament are never easy to play and us finishing well really helped us move up in the tournament."

Long began his day with a birdie on the par 5 first hole and moved to two-under with a birdie on No. 5. He made the turn at even-par after bogeys on No. 6 and No. 9, but quickly got back to two-under with birdies on No. 12 and No. 13. After dropping a stroke on No. 15 with a bogey, Long birdied No. 18 to cap of his second straight round of 70. The St. Louis, Mo., native posted his third straight top 15 at the ACC Championship, finished tied for eighth at three-under 213.

"Adam [Long] showed why he has been a consistent player for us all year," added Green. "It doesn't matter the golf course or the conditions, he finds ways to get the ball in the hole. Whether he has his 'A' game or less he stills finds a way to compete and score. I know this week he hit a lot of great shots to contribute to that score."

Clark Klaasen shot a two-over 74 in the final round to place tied for 10th with a two-under 214. He carded a birdie on the par 5 fourth hole to get to one-under but suffered bogeys on No. 9, No. 12 and No. 13 to snap a string of five straight rounds of even-par or better at Old North State Club.

"Clark [Klaasen] has had good success at the ACC Championship in the past and this week was no different," said Green. "He couldn't have hit the ball better the first two rounds and today he really did a great job of scrambling. Overall, he was very competitive for us and influential in helping the team finish in the top three."

Pierce, a sophomore from San Juan Capistrano, Calif., played the final five holes at three-under with birdies on No. 14, No. 17 and No. 18 to shoot an even-par 72 in the final round on Sunday. After playing the opening nine holes at two-over, he carded four birdies on the back nine to fight back to even-par. Pierce finished the tournament tied for 15th with a one-over 217.

Senior Michael Quagliano also fired an even-par 72 in the final round for the Blue Devils. He closed the day with four birdies, including a birdie on the par 5 18th hole, 10 pars and four bogeys. Quagliano ended up tied for 24th with a three-over 219 (77-70-72).

Roach also birdied No. 18 to finish with a one-over 73 on Sunday. He opened with a birdie on the par 5 first hole and added birdies on the par 5 fourth and 18th holes to finish the day three-under on the par 5s. Roach finished the tournament tied for 46th with a nine-over 225 (76-76-73).

Duke also grabbed a point in the Carlyle Cup standings by virtue of finishing five shots better than North Carolina. Duke trails the yearlong competition by a score of 12.5-9.5 with just a few match-ups left to go. The Carlyle Cup is a series that tracks the Duke-North Carolina rivalry and is sponsored by Carlyle & Co., of Greensboro, N.C.

ACC Championship Notes

*** Long and Klaasen finished in the top 10, marking the second consecutive year Duke has had two top 10 finishers at the ACC Championship.

*** Duke played the 568-yard, par 5 18th hole at eight-under for the tournament ... Quagliano birdied the closing hole in all three rounds.

*** Duke has now finished in the top three at the ACC Championship in three of the last five years.

*** Long has posted five under-par rounds (out of nine rounds played) at Old North State Club.

*** Duke's one-under 287 was tied for the third-lowest round of the day ... it was also Duke's sixth under-par round in the last nine rounds

*** The Blue Devils carded 11 birdies on the back nine on Sunday ... Duke was four-over as a team on the front nine and three-under on the closing nine holes.

*** Duke has finished under-par in three straight ACC Championships.