Duke in Fourth After First Day at ACC Championship

PINEHURST, N.C. – The Duke men’s golf team is in fourth place at 3-under, 565, through 36 holes of play of the 2023 ACC Championship, held at the Country Club of North Carolina. Both Ian Siebers and Luke Sample lead the Blue Devils on the individual leaderboard, sitting in a tie for seventh place at 2-under.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND 1

• As a team, the Blue Devils shot a 6-under, 282, in the first round.
• All five Duke individuals finished under par through their first 18 holes.
• Luke Sample helped pace Duke in the morning round, signing for a 2-under, 70. After starting on No. 10 and carding an early bogey on No. 14, the sophomore got back to even-par with a birdie on the par-5 18th. Sample went on to birdie three of his next seven holes before a late dropped shot on No. 8.
• Making his return to Duke’s lineup after missing the Stitch Intercollegiate due to an illness, Ian Siebers also carded a 2-under, 70, in the first round. The junior played steady golf throughout the morning, mixing three birdies, including back-to-back birdies on holes No. 5 and 6, while just carding one bogey along with 14 pars.
• Ethan Evans battled back from an early double bogey on No. 12, rolling in birdies on No. 14 and No. 17 to get back to even through nine holes. The freshman made four birdies in the second half of his round, including three straight spanning holes No. 5-7, before a double bogey wrapped up Evans’ first-round 1-under, 71.
• Another first-round 1-under, 71, came courtesy of Kelly Chinn. He poured in three birdies over his final nine holes, including a bounce-back birdie on his final hole of the morning round to finish in red numbers.
• The third and final 1-under round to start the tournament was turned in by William Love. An opening bogey on No. 10 was quickly erased with a birdie on No. 12, and the freshman reached 1-under after hitting his approach shot to six inches for a tap-in birdie on No. 17. A steady front nine saw the freshman suffer just one bogey on No. 5, before birding the par-5 ninth to end his round at 1-under, 71.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND 2

• The Blue Devils finished at 3-over, 291, in the second round.
• Luke Sample and Ian Siebers both paced the Blue Devils with rounds of even-par, 72, in the afternoon.
• Sample faced an early 2-over start, but bounced back with an eagle on the par-5…