Duke had a mediocre start to its spring season, tying for seventh place in the Arizona Intercollegiate tournament. The three-round competition was in Tucson, Arizona Monday and Tuesday where 14 competitive programs were invited to tee off. Two full rounds were originally scheduled for Monday, but an excess amount of darkness caused the second round to be finished on Tuesday.
Like Iowa State and New Mexico State, the Blue Devils finished with a score of 859 (-5). Head coach Jamie Green’s squad included freshman Kelly Chinn, freshman Luke Sample, sophomore Jimmy Zheng, sophomore Ian Siebers, and graduate student Qi wen Wong. Duke was led by Siebers who had an impressive first round score of 68 (-4) and a final score of 208 (-8) for the 54 holes. These results gave the sophomore a tournament ranking of ninth, which is definitely a feat worth noticing.
Sample and Chinn accounted for the following scoring positions as they both finished with 214 (-2). Both freshmen had sufficient third rounds as they scored 2-under par. These performances by the underclassmen were indeed significant, but they weren’t enough to take down Arizona and New Mexico who finished first and second with scores of 829 (-35) and 830 (-34) respectively.
Yes, the Blue Devils were at the middle of the table, but the fact that Duke’s freshmen are making an impact and are complementing Siebers is promising. Duke’s next tee off is Feb. 20 at the Watersound Intercollegiate in Panama City Beach, Florida.
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