Evans Leads Duke in First Round at NCAA Baton Rouge Regional

BATON ROUGE, La. – A strong second half of Duke’s round has the Blue Devils in fifth place after a 3-over, 291, in the first round of action in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional. Ethan Evans fired a 1-under, 71, to lead Duke’s efforts in the opening 18 holes of play, and the sophomore is inside the top-10 on the individual leaderboard heading into Tuesday’s second round.

The regional, hosted by LSU at the University Club in Baton Rouge, is currently led by Virginia while Auburn, Ohio State and Houston round out the remaining teams in the top-five.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND ONE

• Duke started on the 10th hole on Monday morning and went on to shoot a 3-over, 291, as a team in the first round.
• Ethan Evans was the low Blue Devil for the day, signing for a 1-under, 71. The sophomore rolled in two birdies, both after making the turn, while only dropping one shot all day. Evans started with three straight pars on holes No. 10-12 before his lone bogey of the round on the par-3 13th. Five more pars rounded out his back-nine and Evans made the turn at 1-over. A bogey-free front-nine was highlighted by a birdie on the 632-yard, par-5, third and he added another birdie, from distance, on No. 7 to move into red numbers. The Mercer Island, Wash., native finished with two consecutive pars on holes No. 8 and 9 to close out his under-par effort.  
• William Love was Duke’s second player at even-par or better, after he carded an even-par, 72, on Monday. The sophomore started his day with a bogey on the par-4 10th, but immediately bounced back with a birdie on No. 11. After finding water and making double-bogey on No. 14, Love then rolled in his second birdie of the day on the par-5 17th before dropping a shot on No. 18 to make the turn at 2-over. Back-to-back birdies on holes No. 1 and 2 highlighted his front-nine, but Love also scrambled well, making a bogey save on the long par-5 third after finding the water on his tee shot and holing his putt from the fringe on the par-3 5th, to sit at 1-over after 15 holes. Love put his approach on No. 7 to inside 10 feet and sank the birdie to get back to even-par, where he would end his round.
• Both Luke Sample and Bryan Kim shot 1-over, 73, in the first round.
• Sample worked through an up-and-down first 11 holes, before steadying the round and finishing strong with two birdies…