Blue Devils Advance to Match Play After Late-Round Surge

Sunday, April 23

Pinehurst, N.C

Duke University

Round 3 at ACC Championship

Duke men's golf's Luke Sample celebrates

Blue Devils Advance to Match Play After Late-Round Surge

4/23/2023 2:31:00 PM | Men's Golf

Stroke Play Final Results (PDF)Watch: Match Play Semifinals Live Scoring

PINEHURST, N.C. – The Duke men's golf team advanced to the match play portion of the ACC Championship at the Country Club of North Carolina on Saturday afternoon after a 1-under, 287, in the final round of stroke play. The Blue Devils used a late push to secure their spot in the semifinals, with a birdie from Ian Siebers on the 18th and Luke Sample rolling in a birdie on No. 17 and an eagle on No. 18. Sample led Duke on the individual leaderboard, finishing in a tie for third place at 7-under, 209.

HOW IT HAPPENED

As a team Duke shot a 1-under, 287, in the final round.
Sample led the late charge for the Blue Devils en route to a 5-under, 67, in his final round of stroke play. A bogey-free front nine, complimented by birdies on No. 4 and No. 9 helped move the junior into the top-10 on the leaderboard. The New York, N.Y., native played his first seven holes of the back nine at even-par, setting up the dramatics on the 17th and 18th holes. Sample's approach on No. 17 stopped within 10 feet, lining up the sophomore's fourth birdie of the day. His tee shot on No. 18 required over 300 yards of carry over water but cut the corner on the 510-yard par-5. The uphill approach shot stopped 10 feet below the hole and Sample poured in the eagle putt to cap off his 5-under round.
The Blue Devils' second under-par round of the morning came via Siebers, who signed for a 1-under, 71. A birdie on the par-3 seventh offset his lone bogey of the round and helped the junior make the turn at even-par. The Bellevue, Wash., native turned in eight consecutive pars on the back nine before a key birdie on the 18th helped move Duke into striking position late in the round. Siebers ended his stroke play competition in a tie for 11th at 3-under, 213.
Kelly Chinn played a steady round as well before a late double-bogey finished his stroke play portion of the tournament with a 2-over, 74. Chinn got into red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 second hole on Friday before play was suspended due to inclement weather before eventually finishing off his consistent round with 15 total pars and just three dropped shots. Chinn ended his 54 holes of stroke play in a tie for 49th at 10-over, 226.
William Love battled through four bogeys after the resumption of play on Saturday morning but closed his round strong with pars on each of his late eight holes, including a key sand save on the 238-yard par-3 16th. The freshman carded a 3-over, 75, in his final round of stroke play. Love's stroke play action ended in a tie for 28th at 3-over, 219.
Also for Duke, Ethan Evans signed for an 8-over, 80, on Saturday morning. The freshman finished in 48th place with a 9-over, 225.

QUOTES

"Today, before the round, I made a quick setup adjustment and I felt really, really comfortable throughout the day and hit the shots that I had been looking to hit [on Friday]. Kept giving myself opportunities and didn't convert on them all but to be able to set myself up, coming down the stretch to give us a chance, that really made a world of difference … We know Georgia Tech's a really good team, but anything can happen in match play. We're ready to stay hot, stay loose and we really think we're going to be in a good position to win coming down the stretch." – Duke sophomore Luke Sample

NOTES

Duke advances to the match play portion of the ACC Championship for the first time since the league switched to a combination format in 2021.
The Blue Devils remained in striking distance throughout the entire 54 holes by using a field-best 187 pars while also rolling in three eagles – the second-most by any team in the field.
Luke Sample tied for the second-best scoring on par-5's during stroke play, finishing at 10-under on those holes. The sophomore's two eagles through his three rounds tied for the most of any individual in the field.
William Love finished the stroke play portion at even-par on the par-3's, tied for fourth-best of any individual in the field.
Ian Siebers' carded 44 pars during stroke play, the most of any player.

UP NEXT

The match play semifinals begin at 3:30 this afternoon. The Blue Devils are seeded fourth and match up against top seed Georgia Tech, going off of the first hole.
Live streaming of the semifinals is on ACC Network Extra with Ryan Burr (play-by-play) and Steve Scott (analyst) on the call, and 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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