ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The Duke men’s golf team fired a 5-under, 283, in the opening round of the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate on Friday, Oct. 18, and sits in third place heading into the second round on Saturday, Oct. 19. Ethan Evans led the charge for the Blue Devils, carding a 5-under, 67, and is tied for second place on the individual leaderboard.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND ONE

• As a team, Duke shot a 5-under, 283, in the first round, played on the Lakeside Course at the Golf Club of Georgia.
• Junior Ethan Evans was the low Blue Devil of the day, firing a 5-under, 67. Starting on hole No. 10, Evans immediately got into red figures with a birdie on the par-4 10th and was quickly 3-under following back-to-back birdies on holes No. 13 and 14. Two bogeys, on No. 15 and No. 18, slowed Evans’ momentum, but an eagle on the par-5 first hole immediately erased the two dropped shots. After alternating birdie and bogey across a four-hole span of holes No. 3-6, Evans closed his round on a high note, rolling in his second eagle of the front-nine, on the par-5 ninth, to finish out his 5-under effort.
• Kelly Chinn also tallied a top-15 showing in the first round, finishing as the second Duke player under-par with his 2-under, 70. Similar to Evans, Chinn started his round with a birdie on the 10th hole. A double-bogey, on No. 14, was his lone blemish of his opening nine holes and Chinn added a birdie on the par-4 16th to make the turn at even-par. The senior then played the front-nine bogey free, while taking advantage of both par-5’s, making birdie on No. 1 and No. 9, to secure his 2-under effort.
• Bryan Kim finished at even-par, 72 and is currently tied for 21st on the leaderboard following the first 18 holes of action. A 1-over opening nine holes of play included a birdie on the 607-yard, par-5, 11th hole and the sophomore played the front-nine without a bogey while also closing with a birdie on the par-5 ninth.
• Luke Sample tallied a 2-over, 74, and closed with momentum after rolling in a birdie on No. 9 – the fourth different Blue Devil to play the closing ninth hole at under-par – while William Love rounded out Duke’s representation with a 7-over, 79.

NOTES

• The Blue Devils’ par-5 scoring effort of 9-under for the day included a field-leading three total eagles and made Duke the only team with multiple eagles in the round.
• Ethan Evans rolled in two of those eagles, matching the most he’s made in a single tournament during his Duke career, and was the only individual to make multiple eagles in the first round.
• Evans played the par-3’s at 1-under, which tied for the best effort on those holes by any individual in the field.
• With his even-par effort, Bryan Kim has now finished at even-par or better in five of his previous six rounds.

UP NEXT

• Duke begins its second round off of hole No. 1, with the first pairing going off at 10:50 a.m. The Blue Devils are slated to play alongside UCLA and East Tennessee State.
• Live scoring is available here. 

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men’s golf, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “https://goduke.com/news/2024/10/18/DukeMGOLF”. 

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