Evans and Kim Go Low in First Round of The Prestige

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Led by two of the best rounds on the course from both Ethan Evans and Bryan Kim, the Duke men’s golf team is in seventh place, at 1-under, 283, following the first round of The Prestige. In the individual event, two Blue Devils are also near the top of the leaderboard, with William Love in first place at 5-under, 67, and Jimmy Zheng tied for second place after firing a 4-under 68.

HOW IT HAPPENED: THE PRESTIGE TEAM TOURNAMENT

• Ethan Evans started his round strong, rolling in birdies on two of his first four holes. The sophomore closed out his front-nine with momentum, pouring in back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth holes, making the turn at 4-under. Evans continued his strong first round of the spring with three more birdies on the back-nine, giving him a total of seven in the first round, before a late double-bogey closed out his 5-under, 66.
• Bryan Kim also signed for a 5-under, 66, catching fire midway through his round. An early bogey, on the par-4 third, was his lone dropped shot and was quickly erased with his first birdie of the round, on the 481-yard, par-4, sixth hole. The freshman then made birdies on six of his next nine holes, including three straight on holes No. 10-12. Kim made his final birdie of the day on the par-4, 14th, before going on to make four consecutive pars to finish off his third career round in the 60’s.
• Luke Sample worked through five bogeys, rolling in two birdies throughout his round, to eventually sign for a 3-over, 74, on Monday. His first birdie came on the par-3, 181-yard, seventh hole and required a tee shot that carried water to set up his birdie putt. Sample made his second birdie of the round on the par-4, 14th.
• Kelly Chinn capped off Duke’s counting scores, signing for a 6-over, 77. The junior made the turn at 2-over, following a birdie on the par-4 sixth, but scattered four bogeys across his final nine holes to close out his round.
• Also for Duke, Daniel Choi carded a 7-over, 78, during Monday’s opening 18 holes of action.

HOW IT HAPPENED: THE PRESTIGE INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT

• William Love made his return to the course a notable one, carding a 5-under, 67, in his first round since early September after recovering from injury. The sophomore started strong, with four birdies in his first seven holes en route to a front-nine…