Men’s Golf at Wake Forest Invitational
Just over an hour southwest from the heart of the Research Triangle lies one of the most historic golf courses in America — Pinehurst No. 2. Now the first-ever anchor site for the U.S. Open, including the summer of 2024, the course has held more single golf championships than any other in the United States.
Early this week, the pristine course hosted the Blue Devils at the Wake Forest Invitational, who tied for fourth place out of 12 teams, including national powerhouses Auburn and East Tennessee State. Returning to the lineup after competing individually at The Prestige, sophomore William Love rallied the Blue Devils finishing third place overall at 1-over through the 36 holes.
However, that was not the way the Blue Devils started, as the challenging course caused the team to start more tentatively. It was not just Duke, though, with all teams finishing over par in the first round. The Blue Devils were in 11th place at 18-over. Freshman Bryan Kim led his team with a first round score of 1-over, capped off by a crucial final-hole eagle, but bogeys heavily outweighed birdies for the rest of the lineup, and Duke needed a shift.
With memories like goldfish, the Blue Devils came back for the second round completely forgetting what had just happened in the first, and responded. The leader this time was Love. After a rough finish at 7-over in the first round, the Atlanta native caught fire and put up the best individual performance in the tournament, a bogey-less 66.
“Nobody can bounce back from what I’ve seen in my coaching career nearly as well as William Love,” head coach Jamie Green remarked on Love’s second round masterpiece.
This is not unfamiliar for the Westminster product, as last spring he sent the Blue Devils into the NCAA tournament with a phenomenal back nine at Regionals in Oklahoma.
“I was kind of in my own head to start out the first round,” Love said. “There are going to be some bad breaks, but all you can do is move on to the next and try to do as much as you can with the most confidence”.
Love birdied his last two holes, closing the day strong with the rest of the Blue Devils. Junior Kelly Chinn recovered from a rough first round as well, but even with a fairly consistent second round, the Great Falls, Va., native sat at 3-over with five holes to play. Chinn then would squeak out an even finish with a birdie followed by an eagle on his last two holes to respond, surging the Blue Devils from 11th into seventh place.
In the final round, the Blue Devils just kept clawing. Junior Luke Sample and sophomore Ethan Evans ended each round better than the last — Sample at 1-over with no double-bogeys and Evans even on the day. Evans, a native of Mercer Island, Wash., started off strong with birdie on the 10th hole and immediately offset back-to-back bogeys with another birdie, making the turn even and staying that way. Sample shot 4-under on par-5s, the best individual score on those holes, and powered his way to tie for 18th place.
“Their specialties are ball striking,” Green said. “They got the ball in play and were able to put pressure on the golf course without scrambling once they had an iron from the fairway.”
Love continued to roll. Beginning the day tied for 14th place, Love rallied all the way to third place. With three birdies on the back nine and only one dropped shot, the sophomore made the turn at 2-under. Love immediately responded from a bogey on the seventh hole with a bounce-back birdie and closed the round with the same score. His 11 birdies in the tournament helped the Blue Devils put pressure on third place, but they came just short and settled for a tie for fourth with Clemson. Since returning from injury, Love has finished in the top three twice and looks to continue his good form.
“Pulling it back together this week after the tough start and having a great second two rounds is definitely good for me to see,” Love said. “It is definitely a step in the right direction building back to the player that I was and helping the team as much as I can coming down the stretch. We’re getting fired up and we’re ready for a big season ahead.”
With the next tournament less than a week away, the Blue Devils will be traveling to Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., to compete in The Hayt, hosted by North Florida at the Sawgrass Country Club.
“Since the course is quite close to the ocean, keeping the ball down and minimizing wind effect will be a big deal,” Green said. “Adapting to the new situation that we’re going to be in and how quickly we can feel comfortable will define our success.”
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