Blue Devils Tied for Fifth at Administaff Invitational

Saturday, April 3

Augusta, Ga.

All Day

Duke University

Day One

Blue Devils Tied for Fifth at Administaff Invitational

4/3/2010 9:00:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Duke fired scores of 287-276=563 (-13) to tie for fifth after two rounds at the Administaff Augusta State Invitational at the Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. Senior Adam Long carded a career-low 64 in his second round to propel the Blue Devils to the top five of the leaderboard.

Following an opening-round 77, Long caught fire in his second round, tallying seven birdies and an eagle to reach eight-under-par. A native of St. Louis, Mo., Long rocketed up the individual leaderboard, moving from a tie for 83^rd to a tie for 22nd with a two-round score of 141 (-3). It was the best single-round score for Long since a 65 in the 2006-07 season at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate.

"In my second 18, I started off birdie-eagle," Long said. "Anytime you start off that way, you start thinking it is going to be a different kind of round. I started to get it rolling and made some good putts. I hit the ball really well. There were a lot of putts between 10 and 15 feet ... I didn't make them all, but I made a lot of them. It wasn't a crazy round with a lot of chip-ins or huge putts, but it was good, steady golf with a lot of birdie chances."

Long started his round on the par-4 eighth with a birdie before making eagle on No. 9. Starting out three-under-par, Long posted six more birdies, which included a chip-in on his last hole from off the green. The ninth-hole eagle was on a dog leg left par-5.

"I had a 3-wood from about 260 [yards]," Long said. "I hit it about as solid and straight as I could. It landed towards the middle of the green and trickled to about 12 feet from the hole. It was a downhill putt. Fortunately, the player before me hit from a similar spot, so I had a perfect read. I was able to knock it down."

Joining Long in a tie for 22^nd is sophomore Spencer Anderson. A product of Pacific Palisades, Calif., Anderson fired rounds of 70-71=141 (-3) to keep pace with his senior teammate.

Only one stroke back is freshman Julian Suri, who recorded rounds of 71-71=142 (-2). Suri also eagled the ninth hole in his first round.

Brinson Paolini is at tied for 33^rd with a 36-hole score of 143 after rounds of 73 and 70. Junior Wes Roach carded rounds of 73-71=144 and is currently tied for 41^st.

"We knew there were going to be a lot of birdies on this golf course," head coach Jamie Green said. "We talked about just putting your golf ball in good position off the tee. The guys played pretty smart tee-to-green. I saw some birdies putts that weren't quite converted. There are a lot of holes out there to play tomorrow and our guys are more than capable [to play well]."

Live scoring of the final round of the Administaff Augusta State Invitational will be available at golfstat.com

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