Duke in 13th After Day One of NCAA Championship

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Day One at NCAA Championship

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Duke in 13th After Day One of NCAA Championship

5/29/2015 9:08:00 PM | Men's Golf

By: Duke Sports Information

BRADENTON, FLA. -- Freshman Jake Shuman shot a Duke freshman NCAA Championship record three-under 69 to pace Duke to a nine-over 297 on the opening day of the 2015 NCAA Championship. The Blue Devils used a strong finish to close the day 13th in the 30-team field at The Concession Golf Club (par 72, 7483 yards).

"In some ways early in the round this golf course punched us in the mouth but we punched back,” said head coach Jamie Green. "Each time you see this golf course you learn a little bit better on how to play it with confidence and how to play it boldly. Our guys got a little taste of that today and did a great job of finishing off the round and keeping us in the hunt."

Illinois posted the lone sub-par round Friday with a two-under 286 to grab the opening round lead. Georgia is two shots back with USC (289), San Diego State (290), LSU (292), Florida (293), Georgia Tech (293), South Florida (293), Texas (293) and UCLA (293) rounding out the top 10. SMU and TCU are tied for 11th at eight-over and followed by Duke (297), Charlotte (298), Florida State (298) and Oklahoma State (298). The top 15 teams after 54-holes of play advance to Monday's final round with the top eight teams after 72 holes moving on to the match-play portion of the NCAA Championship.

"I am really proud and pleased for Turner [Southey-Gordon], Adam [Wood] and obviously Jake," continued Green. "The other guys are looking forward to tomorrow and a little bit of revenge. If you look at the leaderboard with all of the teams there were a couple of holes that reached out and bit some guys."

Shuman got off to a slow start with Duke opening play on the back nine Friday morning before blistering the front nine at The Concession Golf Club. The Needham, Mass., native suffered bogeys on No. 10, No. 12 and No. 15 to slip to three-over after six holes of play. He birdied the par 5 17th hole but still made the turn at +3 following a bogey on No. 18. Shuman kick-started his round with a tap-in eagle on the 580-yard, par 5 third hole and got back to even-par with a birdie on No. 5. Following a par on No. 6, he closed the day birdie-birdie-birdie for his ninth under-par round of the season. Shuman is tied for third overall, one shot back of Thomas Detry (Illinois) and Claudio Correa (South Florida).

"I told myself to stay patient," said Shuman of his approach to the opening round of the NCAA Championship. "It is not an easy golf course, but I had to stay patient and just get a putt to drop. I had 250 yards into No. 3 and TD [Luten] and I knew it was a perfect full shot with a hybrid. It started right on line and never left the flag for a two and a half foot tap in eagle. That got me going and down the stretch I hit it closer. Once I saw one putt drop I saw the lines better and putts dropped the last five or six holes."

Senior Turner Southey-Gordon and freshman Adam Wood are tied for 35th after posting one-over 73s in round one. Southey-Gordon opened with a birdie on No. 10 and moved to two-under with another birdie on No. 3. He stumbled with four bogeys over the next eight holes before adding a birdie on the par 5 third hole. After dropping a stroke on No. 5, Southey-Gordon birdied the par 3 sixth hole and wrapped the day with three straight pars for a solid opening day.

Wood played his first 10 holes and four-over with four bogeys and six pars before settling in. The Zionsville, Ind., native collected his first birdie on No. 3 and birdies on No. 7 and No. 8 to get back to one-over for the round.

Sophomore Max Greyserman and junior Motin Yeung struggled to avoid big numbers Friday en route to rounds of 82 and 86. Greyserman carded three birdies on the day but also suffered three holes of double-bogey or worse scoring. Yeung had two birdies but four holes of double-bogey or worse scoring derailed his round.

Duke opens second round play Saturday at 2 p.m. off the front side at The Concession Golf Club. The Blue Devils will once again be paired with Clemson and Florida. Live scoring for the NCAA Championship is available at www.golfstat.com.

NOTES
*** Shuman's three-under 69 is tied for the fifth-lowest round by a Duke player in NCAA Championship action.

*** Shuman recorded Duke's 11th round in the 60s in NCAA Championship play.

*** Shuman played the par 5s at The Concession Golf Club at four-under Friday.

*** Wood posted his team-leading 30th counting round of the year.

ADDITIONAL QUOTES
"There is no reason to treat it any different than any other tournament or round of golf. Certainly the best teams and players in the country are here but it doesn't effect what I do or how I play."
-Freshman Jake Shuman

"This golf course is unique with a lot of undulations on the greens, I think Jake called them diabolical. The great thing is that the course is in immaculate condition so it rewarded good golf shots out there. That is what our guys did down the stretch."
- Head coach Jamie Green