DURHAM, N.C. – With two victories and four top-five finishes this fall, the Blue Devils men’s golf team has been ranked No. 10 in the final Golf World/Nike Division I College Coaches’ Poll of the season. The Blue Devils conclude the fall season after finishing in the top-five in all but one event, including wins at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate and the Rod Myers Invitational.
Duke enters the off-season led by seniors Julian Suri and Brinson Paolini. Suri, a native of St. Augustine Fla., concludes his fall with a 71.5 stroke average, while tallying three top ten finishes in five tournaments including a victory at the Rod Myers Invitational. Suri, a 2012 PING NCAA All-American, played nine of his fifteen rounds in par or better this fall including a scorching 67 in the final round at the United States Collegiate Championship.
Paolini owns a 71.6 stroke average for the fall, and has tallied two top five finishes including a two-over par 212 at the 54-hole Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational. In the event, the three-time PING All-East Region player carded rounds of 70-68-74 to finish tied for second place. Paolini, a native of Virginia Beach, Va., has played seven of his 12 rounds at par or better this fall.
California topped the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches’ Poll, while Texas, Alabama, Florida and UCLA round out the top five respectively. The ACC is represented by five schools in the poll including No. 9 Georgia Tech, No. 19 Clemson, No. 24 Florida State and No, 24 Wake Forest. The SEC leads the way with eight teams in the top 25, followed by the ACC and the PAC 12 with five each.
The 10th-ranked Blue Devils are scheduled to kick off its spring season Feb.24-26, 2013 at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches’ Poll
Dec. 10, 2012 Issue
NCAA Men’s Division I
Rank Team
1. California (21)
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Florida
5. UCLA
6. New Mexico
7. Washington
8. USC
9. Georgia Tech
10. Duke
11. Georgia
12. Arkansas
13. LSU
14. Oklahoma State
15. SMU
Stanford
17. Illinois
18. Missouri
19. Clemson
20. Vanderbilt
21. Liberty
22. Kent State
23. Florida State
24. Wake Forest
25. Auburn
Also receiving votes: UCLA 35; Northwestern, 29; Texas A&M, 20; Saint Mary’s (Calif.), 18; Coastal Carolina, 13; North Carolina, 11; Ball State, 7; Tennessee, 6; Georgia Southern, 4; Kentucky, 4; Virginia, 3; South Carolina, 3; Baylor, 2; San Diego State, 1.
