Blue Devils Make Late Comeback, Advance to NCAA Championship

Wednesday, May 17

Duke University

Round 3 at Norman Regional

Men's golf celebrates advancing to NCAA Championship

Blue Devils Make Late Comeback, Advance to NCAA Championship

5/17/2023 6:59:00 PM | Men's Golf

NORMAN, Okla. – With another late rally in postseason play, the Duke men's golf team stormed back from as many as 10 shots back from the cut line to advance out of the Norman Regional on Wednesday afternoon. With their fifth-place finish, the Blue Devils move on to the NCAA Championship, held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., on May 26-31.

Duke finished the 54-hole event, held at the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club, with a team score of 21-under, 843. The score to par and total score sets program records for an NCAA regional held at a par-72 course, with the 21-under just one shy of the program record for any NCAA regional (-22, 2018).

The Blue Devils were led by Kelly Chinn and William Love in the final round, as they both posted a 5-under, 67. All five individuals finished at 1-over or better on Wednesday, with four Blue Devils finishing in red numbers. Chinn led the Blue Devils on the individual leaderboard, finishing in a tie for seventh place.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Faced with a slow start early on, Duke rallied with 17 birdies through the final nine holes to secure a finish inside the cutline.
As a team, the Blue Devils shot a 13-under, 275, in the third round.
Kelly Chinn helped pace the Blue Devils on Wednesday, shooting a 5-under, 67. The sophomore got under-par with a birdie on his first hole of the day, No. 10. He then rolled in five straight pars before going back-to-back with birdies on No. 16 and 17 – making just the second birdie of the day on both of those holes. The Great Falls, Va., native picked up two more birdies on No. 2 and 3, reaching 4-under par. A final birdie on the par-4 seventh – the fourth-hardest hole of the day – moved Chinn to 5-under. He rolled in pars on the final two holes, including a two-putt par on No. 9 that clinched Duke's spot inside the cutline.
William Love started his day with a birdie on No. 10 but faced an uphill climb after two double-bogeys put the freshman at 2-over after six holes. His third birdie of the back nine, on No. 17, moved the freshman back to just 1-over, and set up a blistering closing nine holes. The Atlanta, Ga., native poured in six birdies after making the turn, including four over his final five holes. Love played the front nine at 6-under, 30, en route to a final-round 5-under, 67.
Another piece of the late comeback puzzle, Ethan Evans signed for a 2-under, 70, for his final round. The freshman battled back from two early bogeys to make the turn at even-par after birdies on No. 16 and No. 18. Once on the front nine, Evans avoided any dropped shots, setting up a birdie-birdie finish, capped off by a 75-foot chip-in from the fairway on No. 9 to close out his round. The first player to tee off on Wednesday morning, Evans' strong close to his round proved essential in providing Duke momentum to surge up the leaderboard.
Luke Sample was the fourth Blue Devil to finish under-par, finishing at 1-under, 71. Similar to his teammate, two early bogeys presented Sample with a 2-over deficit to overcome. The New York, N.Y., native made two more bogeys on the front nine, but responded with back-to-back birdies on both occasions – including on the final two holes of his round to get back into red numbers.
Ian Siebers rounded out the day for Duke, signing for a 1-over, 73. The junior helped maintain Duke's surge on the front nine with birdies on No. 3 and No. 5 to reach 1-under, but dropped back to 1-over with two holes remaining. Siebers steadied himself and made par on both No. 8 and No. 9 to help ensure the Blue Devils remained in striking distance to close out the round.

NOTES

Duke advances to the NCAA Championship for the eighth time under head coach Jamie Green and makes its 38th all-time appearance.
As a team, the 13-under on Wednesday set a program record for score to par for a single round in NCAA regional play and tied with Alabama for the best third-round score of any team in the field.
Duke recorded its sixth under-par finish in NCAA Regional play and the first at a par-72 course since 2001, when the Blue Devils finished at 8-under.
Duke now has 21 under-par rounds this season, the most for a single season in program history.
Kelly Chinn joins three other former Blue Devils in the record books with a 5-under round during NCAA regional play. He becomes the first Duke player to do so on a par-72 course.
Chinn finished at 8-under for the event – the second-best 54-hole NCAA regional score to par in program history.
Chinn led the field for scoring on par-4's, going 7-under on those holes.
William Love, who ended his tournament at 7-under, slots in directly after his teammate in the record books with the third-best NCAA regional score to par in program history.
The top-10 finishes by Chinn and Love are their fourth and fifth of the season, respectively.
Love has shot in the 60's in five of his last 10 rounds.
Luke Sample has finished even-par or better in eight of his last nine rounds.

QUOTES

"I started off the round knowing I had to shoot something low. Had a few birdies to start and then just kept going. I felt the momentum on the [front-nine], with the team. Just the energy amongst the holes was huge." – Duke sophomore Kelly Chinn.
"Yeah, started off the round with making some mistakes early. Had a little bit of adversity. Made the turn and I knew I had it in me, been hitting it great all week. I was just waiting for the putts to fall. I got some momentum, started making a few putts, hearing the guys around me, seeing putts go in all over. And just really caught fire. Felt great to make that putt on [No. 9] after watching everything that happened and know that putt helped us to move on." – Duke freshman William Love
"[Advancing to Arizona] means a lot after not making it my first two years, and just missing out last year. I personally didn't finish well today but had a lot of great moments. College golf really is a team sport though, and we've come in clutch our last two events – ACC's and now NCAA regionals. Looking forward to keeping that momentum going into Grayhawk!" – Duke junior Ian Siebers