Evans and Kim Go Low in First Round of The Prestige

Monday, February 19

La Quinta, Calif.

Duke University

Round 1 at The Prestige

Evans and Kim Go Low in First Round of The Prestige

2/19/2024 9:31:00 PM | Men's Golf

Round 2 Live Scoring

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Led by two of the best rounds on the course from both Ethan Evans and Bryan Kim, the Duke men's golf team is in seventh place, at 1-under, 283, following the first round of The Prestige. In the individual event, two Blue Devils are also near the top of the leaderboard, with William Love in first place at 5-under, 67, and Jimmy Zheng tied for second place after firing a 4-under 68.

HOW IT HAPPENED: THE PRESTIGE TEAM TOURNAMENT

Ethan Evans started his round strong, rolling in birdies on two of his first four holes. The sophomore closed out his front-nine with momentum, pouring in back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth holes, making the turn at 4-under. Evans continued his strong first round of the spring with three more birdies on the back-nine, giving him a total of seven in the first round, before a late double-bogey closed out his 5-under, 66.
Bryan Kim also signed for a 5-under, 66, catching fire midway through his round. An early bogey, on the par-4 third, was his lone dropped shot and was quickly erased with his first birdie of the round, on the 481-yard, par-4, sixth hole. The freshman then made birdies on six of his next nine holes, including three straight on holes No. 10-12. Kim made his final birdie of the day on the par-4, 14th, before going on to make four consecutive pars to finish off his third career round in the 60's.
Luke Sample worked through five bogeys, rolling in two birdies throughout his round, to eventually sign for a 3-over, 74, on Monday. His first birdie came on the par-3, 181-yard, seventh hole and required a tee shot that carried water to set up his birdie putt. Sample made his second birdie of the round on the par-4, 14th.
Kelly Chinn capped off Duke's counting scores, signing for a 6-over, 77. The junior made the turn at 2-over, following a birdie on the par-4 sixth, but scattered four bogeys across his final nine holes to close out his round.
Also for Duke, Daniel Choi carded a 7-over, 78, during Monday's opening 18 holes of action.

HOW IT HAPPENED: THE PRESTIGE INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT

William Love made his return to the course a notable one, carding a 5-under, 67, in his first round since early September after recovering from injury. The sophomore started strong, with four birdies in his first seven holes en route to a front-nine 32. Two dropped shots on the back-nine slowed his momentum slightly, but Love sandwiched two birdies in between the two bogeys to finish off his first round alone in first place.
Jimmy Zheng joined his teammate as one of the front runners through 18 holes of play, signing for a four-under, 68, on Monday afternoon. The senior rolled in seven birdies, including four within a five-hole stretch, to help secure his fourth round in the 60's so far this season.
Daniel Uranga and Ian Siebers capped off Duke's first day at the individual tournament, shooting a 2-over, 74, and 4-over, 76, respectively.

QUOTES

"I swung aggressively to good targets off the tee to put myself in the fairway all day, which was big, considering the course is fairly tight. My irons were rock solid, and I saw a few long putts go in, which felt good. Excited to keep things going." – Duke sophomore Ethan Evans
"It was great getting back to tournament golf today after a long winter. All parts of my game were solid, and it was good to see the hard work from the offseason show. Looking forward to the next few days." – Duke freshman Bryan Kim
"It was just so much fun to be back out on the course playing again after such a long time off. It was also great to see a good first round, as I've struggled getting off to hot starts in the past. To be at the top of the leaderboard is really encouraging to see." – Duke sophomore William Love

UP NEXT

Duke tees off in the second round of the team tournament, off hole No. 10, at 2 p.m., ET, starting with Daniel Choi. The Blue Devils once again play alongside Washington and Chattanooga for the second round.
Duke's individuals begin second-round action at 12 p.m., ET, with Jimmy Zheng the first off hole No. 1.
Live scoring for both events is available here.

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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