FORT WORTH, TEXAS – The Duke men's golf team is in 11th place after posting rounds of 376 and 387 on the opening day of the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate at Royal Oaks Country Club (par 71, 7,068 yards). Freshman
Jake Shuman and senior
Michael Ricaurte paced the Blue Devils with five-over 147s (T-32nd).
Oklahoma State owns the 36-hole lead with a 14-over 724, two shots better than No. 7 Baylor (726) with No. 22 Oklahoma (730), No. 24 New Mexico (736) and Houston (738) rounding out the top five. The Royal Oaks Intercollegiate is playing a six-count-five format for the 54-hole event.
Baylor's Mikkel Bjerch-Andresen recorded rounds of 66 and 70 to grab a three shot lead over Texas Tech's Guillermo Pereira. Minnesota's Jose Mendez and Oklahoma's Grant Hirschman are the only other players under-par at -1, 141, respectively.
Shuman was steady throughout the day but could not convert on his birdie chance en route to rounds of 74 and 77. The Needham, Mass., native finished the day with one birdie, 25 pars and 10 bogeys.
Ricaurte collected four birdies in his opening round but was hindered by back-to-back double-figures midway through the round while posting an 75. He added two more birdies in the afternoon session only to have his round derailed by a double-bogey and four bogeys over a six hole stretch late in the round. He recovered with back-to-back pars to close out the round with a 76.
Senior
Turner Southey-Gordon is tied for 43rd at 10-over after carding rounds of 75 and 77. He collected three birdies on the day but was hindered by a double-bogey on the back nine of each round.
Adam Wood, a freshman from Indiana, recorded a 74-79=153 and is tied for 50th at 11-over. After a solid opening round, Wood suffered two double-bogeys in the afternoon to push his score over 75 for just the second time this season.
Andrew Bieber is also tied for 63rd following consecutive rounds of 78, while
Alexander Matlari is tied for 71st after rounds of 82 and 83.
Duke opens final round play Tuesday at 10:35 a.m. ET and will be paired with Minnesota and SMU. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.
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