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WVU golfer Todd Duncan hopeful experience as freshman pays dividends in present and future

Since gaining valuable experience as a freshman on West Virginia’s golf team last season, Todd Duncan has kept busy throughout summer.

Duncan tied for low medalist honors in Tuesday’s qualifier for the West Virginia Amateur with a 1-under par 72 at Parkersburg Country Club. That round also earned him first alternate status in the Southern Amateur, with the lone qualifying spot going to Duncan’s WVU teammate Trent Tipton, who got in with a 71.

That followed Duncan’s 24th place finish in the West Virginia Open at Stonewall Resort, with the Shady Spring High School product recording his fifth consecutive top 35 finish in the event since he began playing in it.

Playing 23 competitive rounds in his first season with the Mountaineers has proven beneficial to Duncan in the present.

“When you don’t have your best, you have to compete and be a gamer,” Duncan said as a guest on MetroNews Statewide Sportsline. “You have to score your ball. You can’t shoot 80 and expect to play in the lineup. You have to grind it out, keep yourself in it and stay focused. Don’t let yourself get out of it too early and grind until the last hole.”

Todd Duncan

That’s precisely what did Duncan did at times in this year’s state open, finishing with a pair of 75s sandwiched around a 77 on an Arnold Palmer Signature Course that can often produce big numbers.

Though much of his summer remains, Duncan said he would give his performances a ‘B’ grade to this point.

That follows an eye-opening freshman season at WVU in which Duncan finished with a 75.61 scoring average over eight tournaments. He finished 3-over par with rounds of 71 and 72 to place 12th at the Butler Spring Invitational.

Duncan was also 15th in the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate, highlighted by a round of 70, while an 18th place finish at the ECU Intercollegiate featured a closing 71.

“It is very difficult playing college. You have kids out there that are just as good as you and maybe better that are playing or hitting it better,” Duncan said. “It’s a lot harder for sure.”

With the loss of the team’s top two golfers from last season in fifth-year seniors Mark Goetz and Logan Perkins, Duncan will certainly have the opportunity to move up in the lineup as a sophomore. For that to happen, the Daniels native believes he needs to stay in the 70s on a consistent basis.

“When you’re hitting it bad, you still have to find a way to shoot 75 or 74 instead of shooting 80,” Duncan said. “Grinding it out is the main thing and keeping yourself in it when you don’t have your ‘A’ game.”

A two-time Class AA medalist at the state tournament who helped guide the Tigers to a state championship in 2020, Duncan was also a successful basketball player in high school.

As a senior, he was the starting point guard on the Class AAA state champion.

These days, Duncan’s almost exclusively on the links, though he hasn’t fully given up hoops.

“I’ve actually played about five summer league games this year at Woodrow to stay in shape a little bit,” Duncan said. “I still have a little bit, but definitely not like it was. It feels a little different — that’s for sure.”





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