Blue Devils Sit in Fifth at Stitch Intercollegiate

RALEIGH – Following two rounds of action at the Stitch Intercollegiate, the Duke men’s golf team is in fifth place at 22-over, 590. The Blue Devils tied for the second-best score in the second round on Friday and are only nine shots off the lead heading into Saturday’s final round.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND ONE

• The field was faced with windy conditions in the first round and the Blue Devils shot a 17-over, 301, in the morning.
• Luke Sample led the way for Duke to start the event, firing a 1-over, 72. Starting his round on the first hole, Sample played the front-nine at even-par, 35, after a bogey on No. 3 and birdie on No. 7. The junior reached red figures shortly after making the turn with a birdie on the 631-yard, par-5, 11th, but dropped two shots coming in to finish the morning round.
• Jimmy Zheng and William Love both carded a 5-over, 76, in the first round.
• Zheng began the day with nine consecutive pars, before bogeying the ninth hole to snap his par streak. A birdie on No. 11 moved the senior back to even-par before a stretch of five consecutive bogeys in the middle of the back-nine.
• Love tallied a double-bogey on his second hole of the day, No. 18, but immediately bounced back with a birdie on No. 1. Eight straight pars secured a 1-under front-nine, but the sophomore dropped four shots across his final seven holes.
• Bryan Kim signed for a 6-over, 77, in the morning round. The freshman rolled in two birdies during the round, on holes No. 1 and 10, to help work through a scattering of bogeys.
• Ethan Evans shot a 9-over, 80, to round out Duke’s lineup in the first round.
• Daniel Choi was the low Blue Devil among the individuals competing, shooting an even-par, 71. Kelly Chinn and Ian Siebers both carded a 4-over, 75, while John Peters added a 10-over, 81, and Daniel Uranga finished at 11-over, 82.  

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND TWO

• With the wind tapering off in the afternoon, Duke fired a 5-over, 289, in the second round – tied for the second-best score by any team in the field in the afternoon.
• William Love carded an even-par, 71, in his second 18 holes of action. The Atlanta, Ga., native started with a bogey on the par-3 17th before rolling in birdies on the par-5 first and par-4 fourth. After playing holes No. 8 and 9 at 3-over pushed the sophomore back above par, he responded with…