Overview
The evening hours in Carlsbad, Calif., saw sophomore Bryan Kim sign the final Blue Devil scorecard for the 2024-2025 season. His individual appearance at the NCAA Championship marked the end of a golf campaign that showed much promise, with one team victory and three other top-five finishes in the fall. A more turbulent spring slate showed just how brutal the game of golf can be. Many experienced players seemed to lose their shot, coming up short in the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. It seemed as though it was a repeat year for Duke — although the program now sits at a crossroads following the departure of head coach Jamie Green.
The Blue Devils were deep as a team, with both upperclassmen and underclassmen giving Green a difficult decision as to which five would play at tournaments. With many development programs investing in youth golfers, and many high-end talents foregoing professional status to play for their schools, the collegiate game has never been tougher.
Optimism was high going into the fall slate of tournaments. Experienced players like Luke Sample and John Hiller, with experience at many of the events on Duke’s calendar, were instrumental in team success. Sample’s name even made appearances on the PGA TOUR University Top 25 entering the season.
Kim’s development was exciting — another former American Junior Golf Association Top 100 player, one of many on the roster. Junior Ethan Evans was also a player to look out for after his solo stint at last year’s NCAA Tournament, which saw him lose in a playoff to determine the final individual advancing to the final round of play.
The Blue Devils were able to return to many events they had played at before. Opening the season once again in Sammamish, Wash., at the Sahalee Invitational, Evans, Kim and Sample finished in the top 25. The Blue Devils came home for the Rod Myers Invitational, coming up ten strokes behind the winning N.C. State team — led by another PGA TOUR University Top 25 player in Nicholas Mathews.
Duke would then go on to finish 10th at the Fighting Irish Classic, but rebound with its only win of the year at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, where Evans took top honors in the event. The following week saw a third-place finish at The Clerico in Tulsa, Okla., hosted by Oral Roberts — and led by a Luke Sample second-place finish. The fall slate capped off with an eighth-place finish at the Southwestern Invitational hosted by Pepperdine.
The spring started off with steady team performances. Duke managed to secure three top-five finishes at The Hayt, the General James Hackler Championship and the Tar Heel Intercollegiate just down the road. The worst showing of the year came at the ACC Championship, with an 11th-place team finish — Kim was the only Blue Devil to score in the top 25.
Duke would be granted a 10th-straight berth for postseason play, earning the No. 4-seed at the Reno Regional at the Montreux Golf and Country Club. The team campaign ended after a 16-over par score was short of the top-five cut to advance, but Kim’s individual third-place finish got him a tee time at the NCAA Championship. -Jerry Barajas
MVP: Bryan Kim
The Brookeville, Md., native started in 12 tournaments and led the Blue Devils in stroke average as well as rounds scoring in the 60s. The biggest accomplishment for Kim came individually, when the sophomore advanced to the NCAA Championship as the high-scoring individual on a non-qualifying team. Extending Duke’s postseason and consistently registering excellent scores, Kim led his team to success across the season. -Ben Curtis
Best win: Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate
The best win for the Blue Devils as a unit came in October 2024, when Green’s squad tallied a 28-under, 836, to place first of 14 teams at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate. Evans finished as the top individual in the tournament with a 9-under, 207. He was joined in the top 10 by teammates Kelly Chinn and Kim, who placed fifth and ninth respectively.
The Duke victory came on the back of a Herculean performance in the final round, as the Blue Devils exploded for a 17-under, 207, on the day. The final round marked the fifth-best round in program history and capped off the program’s sixth-best score to par over the course of 54 holes, giving viewers a glimpse into the potential firepower contained within the Duke lineup. -Curtis
Accolades
Much like the year before, one Blue Devil had the opportunity to represent Duke at the national stage when Kim teed it up amongst college golf’s best. The sophomore had a turbulent showing at Omni La Costa Golf Club and battled until the very end in an attempt to make the individual cut line. Evans was the sole representative in Carlsbad, Calif., the year before.
Following the conclusion of NCAA play, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced three Blue Devils who made the PING All-East Regional Team, which recognizes the best collegiate Division I players in the east. Evans, Kim and Sample were the Duke cohort in the selection amongst other top talents in the East.
The beauty of golf lies in the fact it plays year-round, and the relentless pursuit of perfection and finding that the upper echelon is never really over. Three Blue Devils teed off this past Monday in one of golf’s most infamous days, The U.S. Open Final Qualifying, for a spot in the 125th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa. The final qualifying day consisted of 36 holes and has been dubbed “Golf’s Longest Day”.
Duke University Golf Club, under the sanctions of the Carolina’s Golf Association, served as one of the sites across the country. Evans and Kim earned their spots to play in the Durham qualifying site, but both came up short. Graduating senior Sample played a little closer to home at Canoe Brook Country Club in Brookeville, Md. Deep fields made qualifying difficult, and no Duke golfer will have a tee time at Oakmont.
The end of the season also comes with the final publication of PGA TOUR University final rankings. The rankings are a culmination of points earned at events deemed competitive by the PGA Tour. Sample finished at the 33rd spot, while Chinn earned the 44th spot. -Barajas
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Departures
Shortly after the conclusion of the spring season, Green stepped down from his head coaching position. After leading the Blue Devils for 16 years, the 2013 ACC Coach of the Year announced he hoped to pursue other opportunities. Under Green’s tenure, Duke made 15 NCAA Regionals, eight NCAA Championship appearances and earned 33 team titles.