The Blue Devils took off to South Bend, Ind., to finish the first half of their fall slate of matches at the Fighting Irish Classic. The team is coming off a second-place finish at their home Rod Myers Invitational and were looking to ride that momentum going up Warren Golf Course.
Duke was once again led by sophomore Bryan Kim, who carded two rounds of even-par (70-75-70 — 215) to finish in 21st place individually. The Blue Devils finished 27-over par for a 10th-place finish, two strokes behind ninth-place Kent State. Though it was a struggle on the first 36 holes, Duke’s silver lining was the final round, where the Blue Devils finished Monday afternoon shooting 1-over par, tied for third best as a team in the final round.
The luck of the Irish prevailed as the home team claimed victory with a 5-under performance, the only team to shoot under par after an impressive 7-under in the final round. Purdue came in second overall, 11 strokes back at 6-over on the weekend. The competition included a diverse lineup of 15 programs which included the likes of Augusta, Tennessee and UCLA.
Duke saw three players shoot even on the final day. Followed by a rocky Monday morning for Luke Sample, who shot 3-over 38 on his first nine, the senior finished his round with four birdies in his last six holes to finish at 3-under 32 (32-38 – 70). Senior Kelly Chinn also contributed to a strong Monday outing, shooting even par following rounds of 5-over 75 and 8-over 78. Chinn’s even round propelled him 18 spots to finish at T-59 as an individual. John Peters also had his best showing Monday with a 1-over 71 to finish T-47.
Junior Ethan Evans had an uncharacteristic round Monday, shooting an 11-over 81 to finish his tournament +17 after recording two rounds of 3-over 73. Evans was coming off a T-7 finish at the home Rod Myers Invitational.
Though Duke struggled on the first day of the tournament, some bright spots did not go unnoticed as Kim recorded birdies in Round 1 on the par-4 eighth and par-3 11th, which played as the second and fourth hardest holes on the course, respectively. Kim, Evans and Sample fared well on Warren’s two par-5 holes as they scored 1-under par as a group through day one on holes five and 17. Duke finished its first 36 holes at 26-over 256, good enough for an 11th place standing before a more constructive final 18 holes.
The Blue Devils will take off to Georgia Oct. 13, to compete in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational in Alpharetta, hosted by Georgia Tech. The competition will feature the 2024 NCAA Division I individual champion, Hiroshi Tai of the Yellow Jackets. Duke finished in fifth place last year after posting a 12-under 852 at the Lakeside Course.
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