Blue Devils Complete First Day at Valspar Collegiate

PALM CITY, Fla. – After two rounds of action at the Valspar Collegiate, the Duke men’s golf team is tied for 11th place with a 36-hole score of 4-over, 572. William Love is the Blue Devils’ low golfer after a second-round 67 moved the freshman into a tie for eighth place at 5-under, 137.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND ONE

• Duke shot a 5-under, 279, as a team in the first round.
• Jimmy Zheng placed himself at the top of the leaderboard to start the day, carding a birdie on his first hole, No. 17, and was 5-under through his first nine holes to claim a tie for first place. After two late bogeys, Zheng finished the opening 18 holes in a tie for 14th place with a 2-under, 69.
• Three different Blue Devils carded a 1-under, 70, and sat in a tie for 23rd place to start the tournament. William Love used an early birdie on the par-4 17th and then back-to-back birdies on holes No. 5 and 6 to bounce back from a bogey on No. 4, to help him start his tournament under-par. Kelly Chinn made nine pars on the front nine and erased a late bogey with a birdie on the par-5 13th to secure an under-par opening round. Luke Sample stormed back from four early bogeys with five birdies over his final eight holes to reach red numbers in the first round.
• Also for Duke, Ian Siebers signed for a 2-over, 73, in the first round.

HOW IT HAPPENED: ROUND TWO

• The Blue Devils wrapped up the first day of competition with a team score of 9-over, 293, in the second round.
• William Love moved into the top-10 on the leaderboard with a 4-under, 67, in the second round. The freshman heads into the final day of competition in a tie for eighth place at 5-under for the tournament. Love played the front nine bogey-free while rolling in two birdies and then carded birdies on two of his final three holes to finish in the 60’s for the seventh time this season.
• Birdies on both of the front-nine par-5’s helped Jimmy Zheng to a 3-over, 74, in the second round. The Auckland, New Zealand native enters Tuesday’s action in a tie for 31st at 1-over through 36 holes.
• Luke Sample signed for a 4-over, 75, for his second round. The sophomore played his final two holes at 2-under par, including a birdie 4 on his final hole of the day – the par-5 13th. Sample enters the third round in a tie for 47th.
• Ian Siebers rounded out the team’s scoring on Monday…