Ian Siebers once again found himself as the leading Duke freshman this past weekend.
In this case, however, he was leading all freshmen in Duke history, as he broke the three-round program freshman scoring record.
The Blue Devils traveled just up the road to Cary, N.C., for the Stitch Intercollegiate at the MacGregor Downs Country Club. Although the team finished a mediocre sixth in the 12-team field, Siebers’ record-breaking weekend was a bright spot.
“It feels great to set the Duke freshman 54-hole scoring record, as it is the result of a lot of hard work and patience throughout the semester,” Siebers told GoDuke.com. “This is certainly a step in the right direction for me, and I look forward to continuing my strong play with the team in ACCs and beyond.”
The freshman opened up the weekend with a one-under par 71 in the first round Friday before catching fire for the remainder of the tournament. In the second round, Siebers carded a bogey-free 66, including a 32 on the front nine, to pace the Blue Devils.
And in the final round of the tournament, Siebers kept his momentum going with six birdies and an eagle en route to another six-under 66, sealing his tie for third overall at a 13-under 203 for the weekend.
Siebers joined the Blue Devils after a very successful junior golf career. After being named the Pacific Northwest Junior of the Year in both 2018 and 2019, the Bellevue, Wash., native signed his letter of intent as the No. 22 ranked player in the Golfweek junior rankings.
Naturally, with all of these accolades from his high school career, Siebers garnered high expectations coming into his collegiate career. And no one had higher expectations than Blue Devil head coach Jamie Green.
“I’ve heard a lot about Ian [Siebers] exceeding expectations, but I don’t think he has,” Green said. “We knew coming in that he could compete with the best in college golf.”
Competing with the best in college golf is exactly what Siebers has done, and what he did again this past weekend. Perhaps more impressive than Siebers’ frequent birdies in the tournament was his general lack of mistakes. He managed to play three full rounds with just one bogey and one double-bogey.
Siebers’ performance broke the previous freshman 54-hole record of nine-under 204 set by Michael Schachner in 2005. In fact, Siebers’ tournament score falls behind only two other scores in Duke history, a pair of 16-under scores by Adrien Pendaries and Alex Smalley from the 2018-19 season.
Siebers’ weekend also marked his third top-10 finish of the season, contributing to a team-leading 71.24 scoring average. He entered the tournament as the 93rd-ranked player in the country, and his performance will only improve his national reputation.
“I think my finish is going to do a lot for my confidence going forward, and I think the rest of the team is going to be able to perform really well too,” Siebers said of the upcoming schedule.
Siebers and the Blue Devils will look to carry the momentum from this past weekend over into the ACC Championship April 23-26.
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