Evans Paces Duke in Under-Par First Round at ACC Championship

Friday, April 19

Charlotte, N.C.

Duke University

Round 1 at ACC Championship

Ethan Evans round one of ACC Championship

Evans Paces Duke in Under-Par First Round at ACC Championship

4/19/2024 4:48:00 PM | Men's Golf

Round 1 Results (PDF)Round 2 Pairings (PDF)Live Scoring

CHARLOTTE – After an opening round of 1-under, 283, the Duke men's golf team stands in seventh place at the ACC Championship, held at Charlotte Country Club. The Blue Devils, led by Ethan Evans' 2-under, 69, finished under-par as a team after the first 18 holes of play on the 7,396-yard, par-71, course.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND ONE

As a team, Duke fired a 1-under, 283, in the opening round.
Ethan Evans led the lineup, signing for a 2-under, 69, on Friday. The sophomore began his day in red numbers after sticking his approach shot on No. 1 to inside five feet. Two bogeys across a three-hole stretch moved Evans to 1-over, but he responded by sinking a 10-footer on the ninth hole for birdie. Evans kept the momentum going, rolling in birdies on the par-4 10th and par-5 12th to reach 2-under. A bogey on the 17th was quickly erased with a birdie on the final hole, with Evans finding the green on an uphill approach and pouring in the 15-footer.
Luke Sample also finished under-par, carding a 1-under, 70, in the opening round. Following a bogey on No. 4, Sample got back to even-par with a birdie on the par-5 seventh. After a bogey on No. 8, the junior rolled in back-to-back birdies across the turn to get back into the red. His final bogey of the round, this time on No. 13, was quickly erased with a chip-in birdie on No. 14 and Sample finished off the round with four straight pars.
William Love finished at even-par, 71, after 18 holes. The sophomore started quickly, going 3-under through the first five holes, making birdie on holes No. 1, 4 and 5. A bogey on the par-4 eighth was remedied with a birdie on No. 9 as Love made the turn at 3-under. Three bogeys on the back-nine slowed the early momentum, as Love finished off the even-par round.
Daniel Choi shot a 2-over, 73, to start his event. Choi, making his first ACC Championship start, rolled in three birdies, including on both par-5's, while scattering five bogeys across his round.
Bryan Kim rounded out Duke's opening-day action with a 5-over, 76.

NOTES

As a team, Duke made 18 birdies, tied for the second-most by any team in the field.
Ethan Evans paced the Blue Devils in par-4 scoring, going 3-under on those holes.
Evans also led Duke with five birdies, which tied for fifth-most by any individual.
Bryan Kim made birdie on the par-3 third hole, the second-hardest hole on the course on Friday, and was one of just five players to play that hole under-par.

QUOTES

"We got out to a decent start, and I think the teams that start on hole one probably would have. You had to manage a few holes, but really, there are opportunities one through seven. So thankfully, we had some guys get off to a nice start … We hit a couple of bumps in the road in the middle of front-nine, but we had guys make more red numbers through the 10th, 11th, 12th hole. We had birdie opportunities, but we didn't capitalize toward the end." – Duke head coach Jamie Green
"Felt like the course was pretty much how we expected it to play. It wasn't too difficult but at the same time, there are only two par-5's so you have to pick your spots. I usually play well on par-5's, so I had to make sure I was grinding on the par-4's and 3's. I felt like I did a good job hitting middle of greens and I was lucky to make a few putts coming in on the back-nine. Hopefully can carry that momentum into tomorrow." – Duke sophomore Ethan Evans

UP NEXT

Duke begins its second round at 9 a.m., off of the 10th tee. The Blue Devils are slated to play alongside Louisville and Virginia Tech.
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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