Ben (00:02.661)
Joining me here at the back of the range after picking up his very first collegiate win, Ethan Evans out of Duke University. Sir, welcome. How are you?

Ethan Evans (00:12.302)
Doing well, Ben. Thanks for having me. I'm excited.

Ben (00:15.097)
Of course, man. Like I said, we're going to talk about quite a few things, especially that team win and the individual win at the golf club of Georgia Collegiate down there in Atlanta, right outside of Atlanta in Alpharetta. But I see you're on campus, back on campus after that. know college golf travel is a, well, we could write a book on that, but it looks like obviously you're back on campus. What was the travel situation getting from Atlanta to

to Durham and did the team have any time to celebrate? would it look like getting out of there and catching a flight?

Ethan Evans (00:52.546)
Yeah, I mean, it wasn't, there wasn't too much time to celebrate. Unfortunately, you know, the team was in good spirits, but usually on, on wins like that, you want to have kind of the whole night to just, you know, sort of let it soak in, go to a team dinner, but we, was kind of funny. We just had to quickly leave the course and go catch our flight. I think it was at like seven o'clock that night or something. So we had to actually get moving pretty fast. One of our coaches almost missed the flight. So

Had to be pretty swift about it, but we got back and got like a 10 30 PM Chipotle as kind of our winners dinner. And then yeah, kind of right back into the school schedule this week. So not too much time to let it sink in, but once we get back from Tulsa this next week, which is our last tournament, we'll have some more time to, to celebrate and, yeah, kind of look back on the wind.

Ben (01:42.299)
I have been sworn to secrecy, but I do know that there is a head coach out there in division one that missed his flight to the first tournament of the year this year. I will not reveal who that was, but that's one part of college golf that like most people don't realize. Like even if you win, I mean, normally you want to trunk slam if you're finishing, you know, 12th out of 15 teams. There's plenty of that.

Even the winners have to literally trunk slam and get the hell out of dodge and get back home. That's one of the funny things about college golf. Normally at the end of a tournament, everyone bolts, especially if you're flying.

Ethan Evans (02:17.218)
Yeah, the airlines don't care if you won or lost. Their flight's staying the same.

Ben (02:22.339)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's that's how did you get to Duke? You're a Washington native. That's that's a long drive from from, you know, Mercer Island to I don't think you can drive off the island. That's that's poor staff work. But anyway, Mercer Island to Durham, North Carolina. How did you find your way to Duke?

Ethan Evans (02:35.498)
Yeah.

Ethan Evans (02:41.422)
It's a good question. mean, I was from Southern California originally. That's where I was. That's where my parents are from. And I lived there until I was about eight years old. And then I moved to Seattle, went, did all my intermediate and high school there and, had a good friend, Ian Siebers who I think a lot of people in the golf world though, he's a great player at Duke and, one of the top amateurs for, for a long time. He was two years older than me and lived about 10 minutes away from me in Seattle. So, you know, once he.

sort of narrowed his schools down to about four or five in high school. He, you know, I knew they were great options and he ended up picking Duke. And so I naturally talked to him and was curious, you know, what kind of went into that decision. And, know, once he sort of put Duke on the map for me, it became, you know, once that opened up for me, sophomore summer, I was thinking, you know, obviously West coast, you know, California would be a cool place to go back. A lot of those Southern California schools were kind of my like dream schools growing up, but

Sort of later on in the process, you know, talk to coach Heinz here at Duke and, you know, we had some great talks, but more than anything, I just felt like seeing a new part of the country, that was going to be foreign territory for me would be really cool. And, you know, different kinds of grass, challenging academic school. felt like it was a good chance for me to grow, you know, not only as a golfer, but, in the classroom and as a person too. And, just couldn't be more thankful for how things have worked out, you know, hasn't been a perfect journey.

We were just kind of talking about how the summer schedule has kind of changed for me over the last couple of years. But I wouldn't have it any other way. And I think I've learned a lot from putting myself outside of my comfort zone and coming across the country.

Ben (04:25.829)
That's a really great point because you know, everyone makes that jump, whether it's in athletics or just whatever, you know, when you make from that jump from high school to college, you have that big opportunity to just meet new people, go to a different part of the country, see different things, different climates, just all those different experiences. So I think it's a great point that you brought up that you kind of wanted just to get out of your comfort zone. And I'm glad you brought up the thing about the grass. I don't think that gets talked about enough.

If you want to play this game professionally, you're got to, you got to play to elevation, got to play different types of golf courses, grasses, because once you turn pro, no one cares what you know, you got to be expected to know all that stuff when you make that jump. So I think that's a great point that you brought up. You also mentioned your studies, a two time academic all American. Let me put you on the spot here. What's the latest you've been up at night studying or doing schoolwork

when you know you have a tournament round the following day.

Ethan Evans (05:26.478)
I do know I'm not as bad as some of my teammates on this one. it's probably, it's probably somewhere. Yeah. Okay. Good. no, I'd say probably somewhere in the 12th to 1am range, but you know, when we would have like an early, an early shotgun the next day, because typically, you know, we're at least for me, I try to sort of get my sleeping schedule on the same pace. It's going to be in a tournament week. So I'd be going to bed pretty early that week.

Ben (05:30.615)
Okay, all right, don't worry. I'm gonna give you plenty of time to throw your teammates under the bus. Don't you worry.

Ethan Evans (05:56.718)
so that means staying up until like one is a pretty big adjustment and then, know, getting up at like 5:30 or 6am, whatever it might be. So, but honestly, I do try to do a good job of getting my schoolwork done before the trip. And if I don't, I just kind of cram when I get back, it's, I'm not usually locked in on school when I'm on the road, but every once in a while, you just got to get it done.

Ben (06:18.351)
So I promised you the opportunity to throw one of your teammates under the bus. I'm going to go easy on you and say, hypothetically, you woke up at 3 AM and just for some reason needed to talk to a teammate, who do you think most likely would be awake?

Ethan Evans (06:38.54)
I think, I think Daniel Choi is a good bet. He's definitely a night owl. think William Love might be coming back from the gym pretty late. So he could, he might be up, that second wave of adrenaline. Honestly though, my team does a pretty good job of getting sleep. I kind of make fun of the guys sometimes they love their sleep and they'll, you know, if we don't have something in the morning, guys might really sleep in and, you know, get the day started pretty late.

Ben (06:51.151)
Wow.

Ethan Evans (07:08.27)
I've always been more of a morning person, so I tend to struggle in the mornings when I don't get that good sleep. So I like to pride myself on getting decent sleep when I can, especially during the season, just to keep the body in good shape.

Ben (07:22.843)
That's a very political answer. We're going to move past that, but I think you did very well. Before we talk about this fall season for the Blue Devils, your summer of amateur golf, mean, fantastic. I'm looking at this and you didn't finish outside the top 25. in the sunny Hanna. You got a fifth there. Great run at north and south, southern, western, U.S. Am

I know you just found your first win in college golf, a great summer of amateur golf in basically the most prestigious tournaments you could play in. When you look back at that summer, what do you think was working for you and how have you taken that into college golf?

Ethan Evans (08:02.882)
Yeah, thanks Ben. It was a very fun summer. Obviously my first summer on the Elite Am circuit, so to speak. The Sunnehanna was actually my first Elite Am tournament. And I really didn't feel outside of my comfort zone, to be honest. I I came in off a pretty strong spring season with Duke. The previous fall, was kind of in and out of the lineup, didn't actually play too much, and then came back in the spring and was able to get myself in there with some good qualifying rounds.

you know, had the Hayt collegiate, which was, sort of jump started the whole year, I'd say for me down in Sawgrass with us, with a runner up there and then had another chance to win at regionals where I had the lead going the last day and, you know, lost by one, but, know, competing in the national championship against a lot of the same guys that are playing, you know, the top amateur events and, you know, put up a great score of the third day and unfortunately missed the cut in the playoff, but it was just sort of a culmination of all those confidence building rounds.

you know, that summer didn't feel too different than the tournaments I had been playing. And so, you know, the stakes didn't feel too high. knew I, I, I love those big moments, those big pressure situations and, sort of each tournament, I kept learning more and more about my game. And then by the time I got to the U.S. Am you know, I had a lot of confidence to, to go out there and try to win. you know, I told my dad that, you know, we're this week, I know the U.S. Am is a tough cut to make, you know, 312 down to 64.

but we're gonna try to go win medalist and that's always gonna be the thought. We're not just gonna try to make the cut. And that ended up turning into a runner up. Obviously, Jimmy Ellis got me with a 61 the second day, which was crazy, but yeah.

Ben (09:45.412)
The tin cup of the US amateur, gosh, I remember that day like it was crazy. We were in the media center just like, what is happening at Chaska?

Ethan Evans (09:52.27)
Yeah.

Yeah, but you got to hand it to him. You he played great. Unfortunately, didn't didn't make a long run in match play, but sort of came back to Duke this fall with a lot of confidence that I can go against any of the top amateurs in the world and just trying to keep improve and build off that that strong summer.

Ben (10:12.279)
Is it, it's a great thing you brought up. It's almost like I got to see it in person for me to feel comfortable around the top players. it anything that jumps out from these top guys you may have seen, or is it just, is it just like, I got to spend five hours like on the same fairways as them and then I'm fine. Or do you like look at something and say, wow, I don't have that or that's completely foreign. Like what was kind of your experience?

Ethan Evans (10:41.206)
I think a weakness of mine before this past year was just having that belief in myself. And I think there's a lot of debates about whether confidence or results come first. And I thought the most impressive thing was how these top guys just tournament in, tournament out, they just kept always being in the mix. They might not win each tournament, but it's just racking up the top fives and tens. And...

you know, that has to start from the confidence at the start of the week. You know, they're showing up to these tournaments and you know, they might not hit the ball too much differently than you when you're on the range, but then they go out there and they believe they can win from the first tee. And so that sort of mindset, you know, I guess you kind of got to fake it a little bit until you know, but I, you know, I started to build that belief in myself. And once you get a few of those good finishes, you truly start to step on the property.

at the Western and the U.S. Am and believe that there's a lot of great players. I know that, but my game when I'm firing is as good as anyone. And to truly believe that deep down takes you to that next level where you can start to go into those weeks without any fear of who might be standing next to you and who's in your group. You know that your good golf is going to add up to a strong finish at the end of the week.

That sort of makes it lot more comfortable, you know, with that mindset of knowing that I don't need to play my best golf to be in contention. If I play some of my best golf, I'm going to win this thing. So it makes it a lot of fun to have that belief and self-confidence.

Ben (12:13.817)
You pick up this win. Duke also gets the team win at the golf club of the Georgia collegiate. Really, You said earlier, one of the biggest wins that since you've been at Duke, I think it jumped you guys up in the rankings from 44 to 18 rankings. Don't really mean a whole lot this time of the year, but obviously once you get closer to March and April, things get really, really tight and important. And then obviously the ACC is going to be as competitive as just about any conference in the country.

I want to ask this is this is kind of a question I would ask just about any college golfer, but it fits because well, we're talking now. I want to ask you about the Rod Myers Invitational. This is a home tournament for Duke. You guys finished second to NC State in state rival. Again, just just by happenstance, you're here and we're having the conversation. How important are home tournaments in college golf? I know.

When it comes to football and basketball, you have the rivalries and you're not coming into our house and take, you know, I understand that, but is it like that in golf? Do you still have that home tournament? You're not coming on our golf course and winning mentality. I know you're just being from your perspective, but what's it like in college golf when you're trying to defend a home tournament?

Ethan Evans (13:30.594)
Yeah, I think it's a good, a good thing to bring up. I think there's two ways to look at it. The first thing is obviously losing to someone like NC State, you know, it doesn't make our team happy, especially off of, you know, getting the win the year before we got the win. were defending the title. you know, there was a lot of teams this year that we felt like, you know, we should beat and beat pretty handily if we're playing our best golf and, know, NC State's got some, some good players they're a solid team and they, you know, they took advantage.

obviously they're about 30 minutes away. They know our course more than most teams, but I think the other part of it is, you know, obviously you mentioned the rankings state at this time of year, they might not be as important, but then, you know, come the spring, you want to get that, that best seed you can. And, know, each tournament you plan is, most likely going to be hosted by some team and they're, know, statistically going to play better on their home course. And so when you have, when you host a tournament, it's your chance to take, to make the most of that.

home course advantage. And so I think it was definitely a letdown for us this year to not feel like we, you know, took advantage of that home course knowledge and just be able to execute regardless of how we were playing. And, know, that's something we talked about in team meetings was, you know, we know we have the physical skill and we don't need to, you know, we don't need to worry about that as much, especially on courses that we know so well, we can use that course knowledge to our advantage. And so I think

Coming out next year, I feel really good about our chances, but obviously it's one of those things where when you're playing on your home course that you play and qualifying all the time, you expect to go out there and shoot a good score and win the tournament. And so when it doesn't happen, it can be frustrating for sure.

Ben (15:10.267)
Yeah. Yeah.

Ben (15:15.355)
Yeah, that's kind of a hard one when you, when you play in qualifying and you hang, I mean, I'm sure you guys have hung 66s is up there. Like there's gotta be someone on the team shooting a 65 or 66 every day. And, yeah, that's that I'm glad he brought that up because it is, it is a challenge, but you know, your, your, your win in Georgia, this just kind of popped into my mind when I was out there, this golf course had, they had.

A lot of distance between greens and tees, a lot of long walks. The golf course isn't the typical maybe walking golf course that most of us would think about where you look one fair way over and you see a hole. All 18 holes were kind of siloed from each other and you had some long walks.

How did you deal with some of the long walks when you're in that final round, trying to chase that win, trying to help the team win? What's the walk like after maybe a bogey? It's kind of a unique piece in college golf. We don't normally see that. And I saw that a lot, obviously, being out there. How did you manage maybe some extra downtime in between holes?

Ethan Evans (16:26.606)
Yeah, that's a good question. think fortunately for me, it didn't change as much as I might other players because I'm, I'm a serial leaderboard checker. And so if I don't, if I don't see, you know, what my teammates or other teams are doing across other fairways, I can, you know, I'll be refreshing Clippd and looking at the scoreboard. you know, I've talked with, with coaches about how to, you know, sort of be smart about that and not let it kind of consume you. but I, I'm definitely driven by, you know, competitive nature and that's sort of, you know,

Ben (16:35.446)
Ha ha!

Ethan Evans (16:56.654)
it helps me sort of lock in and focus on what I'm trying to do. But, you know, there definitely was some longer walks this week. I was sort of thinking the practice round, like, you know, from hole one to two is a pretty long walk. So you better make a good score on number one. Fortunately, I didn't, I didn't make a whole lot of, you know, bogeys or big numbers, but when I did, you know, it was a good time to reset and sort of evaluate, you know, where you are in the tournament, what you have to do the rest of the way to,

Shoot the best score you can. you know, think mentally it's, you know, I'm strong. I like to think I'm strong and it's one of my, one of my strengths. allowing yourself to, you know, maybe vent to yourself a little bit, let the frustration out. But by the time you sit your back down in the next tee, you know, it's sticking to the same game plan, you know, no emotional decisions, you know, pulling out driver on a short hole, like just stick to the game plan and you know, plenty of birdies will come. And I felt like, you know, over the course of three days, I did a good job of not letting.

emotions get to me and staying focused on the moment.

Ben (18:00.505)
Yeah, so you kind of took those gaps in between green and tee as a time to reset. So you kind of use that to your advantage, it sounds like.

Ethan Evans (18:09.122)
Yeah, I feel like it did a good job of that, for sure.

Ben (18:11.771)
Yeah.

Well, I'm going to get you out of here. People that are listening and watching are probably wondering why I haven't brought up the fact that you are a Duke Blue Devil and I have a long standing allegiance to the University of Kansas. And that's because I'm a professional, Ethan. I'm going to, you know, it's not about that. I mean, I want you to, we're highlighting your achievements and, you know, since you're at Duke, I wanted to at least give you the opportunity. There's a lot of people listening and watching and probably want to know about your experience at Duke.

So I'm wondering if you could talk about maybe like, what, what's your first experience like going to a Duke basketball game? Like, you know, Cameron indoor arena. Can you talk about that?

Ethan Evans (18:55.436)
Yeah, I think it's one of the most exciting things about coming to Duke. As a junior, you start to get almost a little bit, ooh, there's the Kansas hat coming out. Okay, yeah, no, it's, no, I think as a junior, you almost start to take it for granted a little bit, which is crazy to say, but I have to remind myself that there's very few kids that get to go to these games in Cameron indoor stadium. And each game you go to the treat, whether it's against Kansas or.

Ben (19:03.673)
I'm sorry, no go ahead, go ahead Ethan, I apologize, you go ahead.

Ethan Evans (19:25.198)
you know, an FCS team, whatever it might be. It's a really cool place to watch. And honestly, while the football culture might not be there, and that kind of frustrates us, the basketball culture makes up for it. And, you know, we get the guys together and go to a lot of games and have a good time. So it's something cool to be a part of. And I would encourage everyone who has a chance to go to a game to definitely come to Durham.

Ben (19:47.777)
And I think November 26, there's some sort of a Vegas showdown. think Kansas is playing Duke in one of those fall pre-seasons. mean, do you have any predictions on what might happen there between Kansas and Duke?

Ethan Evans (19:56.344)
believe so.

Ethan Evans (20:03.894)
It's gonna be a tough one. mean, Kansas, think you guys are number one in the country pre-season, I'm pretty sure.

Ben (20:08.301)
Yeah, we're number one in the country. Yeah, we're number one in the country right now. Yeah, I think so.

Ethan Evans (20:12.598)
I don't think that's gonna last long. think we're gonna get to number one, but I think that game is gonna be special. So yeah, I won't be rocking chalk though.

Ben (20:19.983)
Okay all right well- I mean I don't know I don't know what what we're talking about here but I wish I wish you Duke all the best I wish you guys and the rest of the team all the best I know that- huge win for you guys- and I look forward to see I think I'm gonna see you might see you in sea island by any chance you can make a trip down to Georgia around January.

Ethan Evans (20:42.658)
Yeah, that's the plan. I'll be there at sea island That's the plan.

Ben (20:46.229)
Awesome. All right. Well, congrats on your win. We'll catch up over the holidays. And yeah, great job this past week.

Ethan Evans (20:54.04)
Thanks, Ben. Looking forward to seeing you again soon. Take care.