Play Suspended Due to Darkness; Blue Devils in Fifth

TULSA, Okla. – Following a windy day of competition at The Clerico, Duke men’s golf is 18-over and in fifth place at the point of suspension of play due to darkness. The Blue Devils’ day was highlighted by an ace from Luke Sample in the first round and Sample currently leads the Duke lineup at even-par, 140.

Oral Roberts, hosts of the event, leads the field at 4-over, while UTEP and Northwestern currently round out the top three at 11-over and 13-over, respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND ONE

• As a team, Duke shot a 10-over, 290, in the first round.
• Ethan Evans led the way in the opening 18 holes, shooting an even-par, 70. The junior started quickly with a birdie on No. 2 before dropping a shot on No. 5 to return back to even-par. Two birdies, on No. 6 and 8, were offset slightly by a bogey on No. 9 and Evans made the turn at 1-under. Two bogeys in a three-hole span moved Evans back over-par, but he responded immediately, rolling in a birdie on the par-4 15th to help cap off the even-par effort.
• Luke Sample carded a 1-over, 71, in the morning session. After starting with a 2-over front-nine, with three bogeys and a lone birdie on No. 8, Sample made the turn and eventually sat at 4-over walking onto the 14th tee. Facing a strong right-to-left wind, the senior flew his tee shot directly into the hole from just under 180 yards away for his first ace in an NCAA-sanctioned event. Sample rode the momentum with a birdie on the lone par-5 of the back-nine to play his final nine holes at 1-under and secure his overall opening-round score of 1-over.
• Bryan Kim signed for a 4-over, 74, as the sophomore scattered four bogeys across his round. Kelly Chinn rounded out Duke’s scoring in the first round with a 5-over, 75, while William Love finished at 13-over, 83.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND TWO

• When play was suspended due to darkness, Duke sat at 8-over for their second round. The Blue Devils have two holes remaining, with only Bryan Kim left to finish his second round.
• Luke Sample signed for a 1-under, 69, in the afternoon and is currently even-par for the tournament and tied for fifth place. Sample rolled in three birdies on his front-nine, including on the lone par-5 on the opening nine holes, while only dropping one shot, to make the turn at 2-under for his round. A fourth birdie, this time on the…