Duke in Fourth After First Day at ACC Championship

Friday, April 21

Pinehurst, N.C

Duke University

Rounds 1 & 2 at ACC Championship

Ian Siebers approach shot at ACC Champioinship

Duke in Fourth After First Day at ACC Championship

4/21/2023 9:03:00 PM | Men's Golf

Day 1 Results (PDF)Round 3 Pairings (PDF)Live Scoring Video: Day 1 Recap

PINEHURST, N.C. – The Duke men's golf team is in fourth place at 3-under, 565, through 36 holes of play of the 2023 ACC Championship, held at the Country Club of North Carolina. Both Ian Siebers and Luke Sample lead the Blue Devils on the individual leaderboard, sitting in a tie for seventh place at 2-under.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND 1

As a team, the Blue Devils shot a 6-under, 282, in the first round.
All five Duke individuals finished under par through their first 18 holes.
Luke Sample helped pace Duke in the morning round, signing for a 2-under, 70. After starting on No. 10 and carding an early bogey on No. 14, the sophomore got back to even-par with a birdie on the par-5 18th. Sample went on to birdie three of his next seven holes before a late dropped shot on No. 8.
Making his return to Duke's lineup after missing the Stitch Intercollegiate due to an illness, Ian Siebers also carded a 2-under, 70, in the first round. The junior played steady golf throughout the morning, mixing three birdies, including back-to-back birdies on holes No. 5 and 6, while just carding one bogey along with 14 pars.
Ethan Evans battled back from an early double bogey on No. 12, rolling in birdies on No. 14 and No. 17 to get back to even through nine holes. The freshman made four birdies in the second half of his round, including three straight spanning holes No. 5-7, before a double bogey wrapped up Evans' first-round 1-under, 71.
Another first-round 1-under, 71, came courtesy of Kelly Chinn. He poured in three birdies over his final nine holes, including a bounce-back birdie on his final hole of the morning round to finish in red numbers.
The third and final 1-under round to start the tournament was turned in by William Love. An opening bogey on No. 10 was quickly erased with a birdie on No. 12, and the freshman reached 1-under after hitting his approach shot to six inches for a tap-in birdie on No. 17. A steady front nine saw the freshman suffer just one bogey on No. 5, before birding the par-5 ninth to end his round at 1-under, 71.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND 2

The Blue Devils finished at 3-over, 291, in the second round.
Luke Sample and Ian Siebers both paced the Blue Devils with rounds of even-par, 72, in the afternoon.
Sample faced an early 2-over start, but bounced back with an eagle on the par-5 fifth to get back to even for his round. A birdie on the par-5 ninth offset another bogey and the sophomore made the turn at even-par. As course conditions continued to change throughout the afternoon, Sample faced a grind of a back-nine that consisted of just one birdie, one bogey and seven pars.
Siebers also offset an early bogey with an eagle on No. 5, before making the turn at even-par. The junior played consistently throughout the remainder of his round, going bogey-free and rolling in nine pars to close out his day.
William Love signed for a 1-over, 73, for his second round of the day. An early birdie on the par-3 third hole got the freshman into red numbers, but two bogeys through the remainder of the front nine placed Love at 1-over at the turn. His approach to the par-5 12th finished inside 10 feet, but the eagle putt slid just past the cup, ensuring an easy two-putt birdie. A dropped shot on the 238-yard, par-3 16th closed out Love's 1-over afternoon.
Ethan Evans played both halves of the course at 1-over apiece en route to a second-round 2-over, 74. Two of his three second-round birdies came on par-5's, including on No. 18 to close his day on a high note.
Also for Duke, Kelly Chinn signed for a 9-over, 81, in the second round.

NOTES

As a team, Duke has now finished under-par in four of its last five rounds.
The Blue Devils join Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Florida State as the only four teams to finish under-par after the opening 36 holes of play.
Duke had the third-best scoring on par-4's among all teams in the field, going 6-over on those holes.
Playing consistently throughout the day, the Blue Devils rolled in 119 pars, tied for second-most of any team.
Ethan Evans led all individuals in par-4 scoring at 3-under, while Luke Sample tied for third-best scoring on par-5's at 6-under on those holes.
Evans' nine birdies tied for second-most of any individual, and Ian Siebers' consistent play was rewarded with a field-leading 29 pars.

QUOTES

"Today was the definition of a grind for me. But really, really happy with the way I fought from start to finish. I didn't have my best ball striking, and for me, being known for being a ball striker and that being my strongest part of the game, to be able to scramble in a lot of other ways was big for me and big for the team. So, I'm proud of that." – sophomore Luke Sample
"They did little things really well today. They game-planned well. Guys were on the tee, knowing where the hole location was. They thought things through really well. They stay hydrated – I mean, those are little things but they add up on a 36-hole day. Couldn't be more proud. Obviously, there's a lot of good teams here and a lot of good individuals on teams. And we've got five of them." – head coach Jamie Green

UP NEXT

The final 18 holes of stroke play is played on Saturday morning. Due to forecasted inclement weather, the final-round tee times have been adjusted. Duke, currently in fourth place, begins play off of No. 1 at 7:30 a.m., playing alongside Virginia and Louisville.
The top-four teams following Saturday's final round advance to the match play semifinals on Sunday morning.
Spectators are allowed at the ACC Men's Golf Championship, and it is not a ticketed event. Parking will be available just outside of the main gate, with a shuttle service to the clubhouse. 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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