Evans Ready for NCAA Championship

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Duke men’s golf sophomore Ethan Evans starts play at the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa North Course on Friday afternoon. Evans earned his spot in the Championship as the low individual on a non-advancing team following his tie for second place at 6-under, 210, in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.

Evans, a native of Mercer Island, Wash., has put together a strong spring this season, moving up 300 spots in the individual rankings provided by Scoreboard to enter the Championship ranked 66th nationally. The sophomore has started in all seven Duke events in the spring, has not finished worse than 38th and has logged two top-5, three top-10, and five top-20 finishes.

Two of his three total top-five finishes this season came during the spring. In both top-fives since the turn of the calendar, Evans finished in a tie for second place – a career-best. Evans carded a 2-under, 214, at The Hayt – highlighted by a tournament-best 4-under, 68, in the second round. At the Baton Rouge Regional, he finished under-par in each of the first two rounds, including a 5-under, 67, in the second round, before firing an even-par 72 in the final round to punch his ticket to the Championship.

Evans closed the fall schedule this season with three consecutive under-par rounds en route to a 6-under, 210, effort as an individual at the Bryan National Collegiate, where he finished in a tie for fourth place. Combined with that effort and his spring play, the sophomore has finished under-par in 12 of his 24 most recent rounds and has fired a round in the 60’s in eight of those.

Hosted at the Omni La Costa North Course for the first time, the NCAA Championship begins on Friday with 30 teams and six individuals. The course will play to a par of 72 and a distance of 7,538 yards after going through major renovations by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner ahead of this year, as the facility is set to host the first of three consecutive NCAA Championships.

Evans, the top-seeded individual in the field, starts play in the first round off of No. 1 at 5:12 ET and is paired with Cameron Huss (Wisconsin) and Nick Matthews (NC State). For the second round, the same trio tee off in the morning wave, off of No. 10 at 11:52 ET.

The NCAA Championship features four rounds of stroke play to determine the individual national champion. Live…