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
Points Last
1.
California
(21)
525 1
2.
Texas
487 2
3.
Alabama
452 4
4.
Florida
435 3
5.
UCLA
423 5
6. New
Mexico
422
6
7.
Washington
411 7
8.
USC
360 8
9. Georgia
Tech
348
9
10.
Duke
318 11
11.
Georgia
302 14
12.
Arkansas
291 10
13.
LSU
254
13
14. Oklahoma
State
246
17
15.
SMU
212
12
Stanford
212
16
17.
Illinois
187
T-19
18.
Missouri
161
15
19.
Clemson
129
T-19
20. Vanderbilt
125
18
21.
Liberty
106
T-22
22. Kent
State
101
24
23. Florida
State
64
21
24. Wake
Forest
54
NR
25.
Auburn
44
T-22
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.
