Blue Devils Claim Rod Myers Invitational Team Title, Sample Ties for Third

Monday, September 25

Durham, N.C.

Duke University

Round 3 at Rod Myers Invitational

Blue Devils Claim Rod Myers Invitational Team Title, Sample Ties for Third

9/25/2023 5:44:00 PM | Men's Golf

Final Results (PDF)Individual Leaderboard (PDF)Photo Gallery Photo Gallery

DURHAM – The Duke men's golf team secured its first team victory of the 2023-24 season, claiming the Rod Myers Invitational trophy with an 8-under, 856, at the Duke University Golf Club. Three golfers in Duke's lineup finished inside the top-15, led by Luke Sample, who placed tied for third with a 5-under, 211. The victory is Duke's 94th team title in program history and the 32nd under head coach Jamie Green.

HOW IT HAPPENED

As a team, Duke finished at 1-under, 287, in the third and final round.
The Duke University Golf Club proved a tough challenge to all competitors on Monday, as Duke's 1-under was one of just three under-par rounds on the course all day.
The Blue Devils rallied from a deficit as large as four shots mid-way through the round, surging with 21 birdies over 50 team holes spanning a stretch of holes No. 4 through No. 13.
Freshman Bryan Kim turned in the team's low round of the day, signing for a 2-under, 70. Playing in his first home event, Kim bounced back from an early bogey, on No. 2, with a birdie on the par-3 fourth. The Brookeville, Md., native got hot with the putter on three straight holes, pouring in birdies on holes No. 9, 10 and 11 to reach 3-under for the round. A bogey on No. 12 was erased, after a long birdie putt on the par-3 15th found the bottom of the cup. Kim finished in fifth place, at 4-under, 212, the best finish so far in his young Duke career.
Luke Sample found himself 3-over after three holes, but lit up the scorecard shortly after. The junior rolled in birdies on seven of his next nine holes, reaching as low as 4-under walking off of the green of No. 12. Three dropped shots over his final six holes slowed Sample's surge, but his 1-under, 71, on Monday helped him finish as the low Blue Devil at 5-under, 211, and in a tie for third place overall.
Ian Siebers bounced back from a double-bogey on the first hole with birdies on holes No. 2 and 4 to get back to even-par. The senior played the two front-nine par-5's at even-par, with a bogey on No. 7 and a birdie on No. 9, to remain level at the turn. A birdie on No. 10, Siebers' fourth of the day, pushed him into red numbers. Another birdie on No. 12 was balanced out by a bogey on No. 13 and the Bellevue, Wash., native made pars on his final five holes to finish at 1-under, 71, in the round and at 1-under, 215, overall, good for a tie in 11th place.
Jimmy Zheng carded two bogeys and a birdie on his front nine, making the turn at 1-over after his first birdie of the day on the par-5 ninth. An up-and-down back-nine included two birdies alongside two bogeys and a double-bogey. The Auckland, New Zealand native signed for a 3-over, 75, in the final round and ended the event tied for 33rd overall at 6-over, 222.
Also for Duke, Kelly Chinn carded a 4-over, 76, in the final round. The junior ended the tournament tied for 26th at 5-over, 221.
The Blue Devils' four individual competitors also closed out play on Monday. Ethan Evans played to an even-par, 72, on Monday and paced all golfers playing individually with a 1-over, 217. Daniel Choi ended strong, carding his best round of the tournament, a 1-over, 73, and finished at 13-over, 229. Daniel Uranga went 7-over, 79, on Monday and ended at 21-over, 237, overall. John Peters rounded out Duke's full complement of players with a third-round 6-over, 76, and an overall score of 24-over, 240.
Louisville's Sebastian Moss earned individual medalist honors, finishing at 11-under, 205, over the course of three rounds.

NOTES

Duke's team title is the 94th overall in program history and the 32nd under head coach Jamie Green.
The Blue Devils have finished inside the top-5 in all three of their events so far this season.
Duke led the field in par-3 scoring, with an average of 3.05 on those holes.
Duke's par-5 scoring was second-best overall, at 20-under, an average of 4.67.
The 56 birdies carded by the Blue Devils were the second-most by any team.
Luke Sample finished in a tie for third place, his second top-10 and best overall finish in the early stages of the season.
Bryan Kim logged the first top-5 finish of his Duke career.
Sample led all individuals in the field for par-5 scoring, at 8-under for the event.
Ethan Evans tied for the best individual scoring on par-3's, playing those holes at 3-under.
Evans led all golfers that were playing individually at the event with his 1-over, 217.

QUOTES

"It was nice to be able to be in contention going into the last day and have the lead. Last couple of years, that hasn't really been the case, we've been clawing from behind. And to be in that position, even after a tough start, just shows how resilient our guys are. We're not going to go down without a fight. We're going to fight to make some birdies and grind out pars and that's what we did." – Duke junior Luke Sample
"It's super special and this event has always been a really enjoyable one, just seeing all the families, all the support from the Duke family. It really runs deep, and it really means the world to the players." – Sample on what it means to win Duke's home event
"The team always wants to win this one. We want to win everything but with fans, family, everybody coming out here, they want that badly. And so, for [seniors] Jimmy Zheng, Ian Siebers, Daniel Uranga, it's very special for them. And the folks who come out, all the staff who come by, they want to see us play well too. It's fun when we play well and we finish second, third, fourth, fifth, whatever but when you come away with the trophy, it tastes a little bit better." – head coach Jamie Green on Duke's victory

UP NEXT

Duke returns to the course in mid-October, playing in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate in Alpharetta, Ga. The three-day event is held on Oct. 13-15.

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