Blue Devils Advance to Match Play After Late-Round Surge

PINEHURST, N.C. – The Duke men’s golf team advanced to the match play portion of the ACC Championship at the Country Club of North Carolina on Saturday afternoon after a 1-under, 287, in the final round of stroke play. The Blue Devils used a late push to secure their spot in the semifinals, with a birdie from Ian Siebers on the 18th and Luke Sample rolling in a birdie on No. 17 and an eagle on No. 18. Sample led Duke on the individual leaderboard, finishing in a tie for third place at 7-under, 209.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• As a team Duke shot a 1-under, 287, in the final round.
• Sample led the late charge for the Blue Devils en route to a 5-under, 67, in his final round of stroke play. A bogey-free front nine, complimented by birdies on No. 4 and No. 9 helped move the junior into the top-10 on the leaderboard. The New York, N.Y., native played his first seven holes of the back nine at even-par, setting up the dramatics on the 17th and 18th holes. Sample’s approach on No. 17 stopped within 10 feet, lining up the sophomore’s fourth birdie of the day. His tee shot on No. 18 required over 300 yards of carry over water but cut the corner on the 510-yard par-5. The uphill approach shot stopped 10 feet below the hole and Sample poured in the eagle putt to cap off his 5-under round.
• The Blue Devils’ second under-par round of the morning came via Siebers, who signed for a 1-under, 71. A birdie on the par-3 seventh offset his lone bogey of the round and helped the junior make the turn at even-par. The Bellevue, Wash., native turned in eight consecutive pars on the back nine before a key birdie on the 18th helped move Duke into striking position late in the round. Siebers ended his stroke play competition in a tie for 11th at 3-under, 213.
• Kelly Chinn played a steady round as well before a late double-bogey finished his stroke play portion of the tournament with a 2-over, 74. Chinn got into red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 second hole on Friday before play was suspended due to inclement weather before eventually finishing off his consistent round with 15 total pars and just three dropped shots. Chinn ended his 54 holes of stroke play in a tie for 49th at 10-over, 226.
• William Love battled through four bogeys after the resumption of play on Saturday morning but closed his round strong with pars on each of…