Freshmen Highlight Record-Setting Day at Dorado Beach Collegiate

Monday, February 27

Dorado, Puerto Rico

Duke University

Round 2 at Dorado Beach Collegiate

Freshmen Highlight Record-Setting Day at Dorado Beach Collegiate

2/27/2023 7:25:00 PM | Men's Golf

Round 2 Results (PDF)Round 3 Live Scoring

DORADO, Puerto Rico – Freshmen Ethan Evans and Daniel Choi helped the Duke men's golf team record its lowest 18-hole score of the season while classmate William Love, competing as an individual, carded the best score to par by a freshman in program history on Monday. The Blue Devils are in second place, trailing Cincinnati by four shots, heading into Tuesday's final round at the Dorado Beach Collegiate.

All five players in the lineup finished at 4-under or better, with Evans leading the charge with a 6-under 66. Love moved up 24 spots on the individual leaderboard after his record-setting 9-under 63, which was also the low round on the course on Monday.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke shot a 20-under 268 as a team on Monday, the lowest team score so far this season and the lowest since a 21-under 267 at the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate, during the 2016-17 season.
Ethan Evans carded the team's lowest round of the day, a 6-under 66, marking his lowest round so far as a Blue Devil. After a bogey on the first hole, Evans reeled off four birdies in the final five holes of the front-nine, making the turn at 3-under. His low scoring continued with birdies on holes 10 and 12 followed by his second eagle of the tournament on 14. The Mercer Island, Wash., native enters the final round in a tie for fifth-place.
Daniel Choi was 4-under after eight holes on Monday. After starting the day with a birdie on the second hole, the freshman birdied the par-5 sixth and eagled the par-5 ninth. The Westlake, Texas native only dropped one shot – a bogey on the par-4 18th hole – en route to a 5-under 67, a career-best. Choi also moved more than 20 spots up the leaderboard and is now in a tie for 17th heading into Tuesday.
The second 5-under 67 of the day came courtesy of Kelly Chinn. The sophomore also got into red numbers quickly with a birdie on his second hole of the day, the par-3 fourth. Chinn went on to birdie six of his next nine holes and finished his day in a tie for 25th at 4-under for the tournament.
Ian Siebers entered the day in second place and quickly jumped to the top of the leaderboard with a 5-under 31 front-nine. Siebers reached as low as 6-under for his round after a birdie on the 230-yard, par-3 13th and eventually finished the day with a 4-under 68. The junior is currently tied for third on the individual leaderboard at 10-under for the event and just one shot behind the leaders from UNC Greensboro and Cincinatti entering the final round.
Also for Duke, Luke Sample finished off the team's low-scoring day with another 4-under 68. Like Siebers, Sample managed to reach 6-under after a birdie on the par-5 14th, before two bogeys in the final five holes. The New York, N.Y., native is tied for 31st after 36 holes of play.
William Love started Monday with a birdie on his first hole of the round, the par-5 14th. After another birdie on the 17th and a bogey on the 18th, Love made the turn to the front-nine at 1-under. The freshman reeled off five straight birdies spanning holes three through seven and then added another birdie on hole nine to finish the front with a 6-under 30. Two more birdies in his final four holes capped off the best round to par, -9, for a freshman in program history. Love is currently tied for third on the individual leaderboard.
Jimmy Zheng, also competing individually, ensured every Blue Devil finished under-par with his 3-under 69. The Auckland, New Zealand native had a strong close to his round with three straight birdies over his final four holes to get into red numbers.

NOTES

After 36 holes, Duke's score to par of 28-under is the fourth-best in program history.
As a team, Duke leads the tournament in scoring on par-3's (+2) and on par-4's (-7).
The Blue Devils have carded 54 birdies so far, the most of any team in the field.
Duke has finished under-par as a team in each of its last six rounds.
William Love set the freshman record for lowest score to par round with his 9-under on Monday. The 9-under is also third-best in program history, trailing only Michael Schachner (2006-07) and Alex Smalley (2018-19), who both finished at 10-under in their respective rounds.
Love's 63 is tied for third all-time in program history for total score, joining Alexander Matlari (2016-17) and Michael Schachner (2004-05).
Ian Siebers leads the field for scoring on par-4's, having played those holes in 6-under so far.
Jimmy Zheng is right behind Siebers in the same category at 5-under, second-best in the field.
Ethan Evans is tied for first in scoring on the par-5's at 9-under.

UP NEXT

The final round of the Dorado Beach Collegiate tees off at 8:15 a.m., on Tuesday morning with a shotgun start. Duke is scheduled to start on holes one through three and play alongside Cincinnati, UNC Greensboro and Augusta.
Live scoring is available on Golfstat.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMGOLF".

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