May 19, 2005
Notre Dame Quotes
Jim Kubinski – Head Coach
Opening statement
After the rain delay we got off to a great start, four pars and a birdie on number 10, which I happen to believe will play as tough as any hole out here this week. We got through the stretch of 10, 11 and 12 very, very well. As a team we were around even par at 14 tee and we lost some strokes surprisingly on 15, 16 and 17. Those are holes we would expect to play well and we probably will over the next couple of days. We made the turn and I thought we fell behind a little bit but I felt the guys finished up in a good fashion. I think with a 293 we’re going be right in the mix. Honestly, my opinion is that you aren’t going to win anything today you are just going to play your golf, put yourself in the mix and hope to play well the next couple of days. So I think we are in good shape.
Cole Isban – Sophomore
On the rain delay
Normally I think it would mess you up a little bit. It would make you start to think about things too much or maybe you’d get stressed out. For me personally I think it actually helped quite a bit. I was a little tired this morning and if we had to play in rain like that for the first hour or two that wouldn’t have been any fun or advantageous to us playing well. So I’d have to say in this situation the rain delay definitely helped so that we didn’t have to play in the monsoon and other teams that would play in the afternoon wouldn’t have to play in it. I think it also gave us more time to warm up so this delay was definitely an advantage for us.
On any highlights during the day
I birdied my first and last holes and nothing in between so it was kind of a strange day. I didn’t really have a very good swing going today so I kind of had to scramble. It was nice to start and finish with a good hole.
On being happy where the team stands
I think so, yeah. We’ve played in a lot harder conditions, like the BIG EAST a couple of times. It (the course) wasn’t playing easy with the wind and the weather. For me personally, I played pretty well at the end and I know Mark (Baldwin) held really strong. So I think overall, like coach said, you want to put yourself in a position where you’re not out of it and you have a good chance to go at it in the next couple of days when the weather is better.
Mark Baldwin – Junior
On the rain delay
I also think it helped us but for the reason that it relaxed us a little bit more. I think we came out really fired up and excited to play but also not having played a collegiate event for a few weeks you are also very nervous. I felt like I was a little apprehensive coming out today but also very excited. I felt that the delay allowed us to sit down as a team and talk things over a little bit and we also got some more practice time so we were able to work on things a little more and it also softened up the greens. It felt like there was a little less pressure on our short game because the greens weren’t going to be as firm or as fast. So I definitely think it helped to relax us.
On the course
I felt like the pin positions made it difficult to come across birdie opportunities. There were a lot of back pins today and very close to rigid. So even if you’d hit it in close you’d still be playing a lot of break on putts.
Missouri Quotes
Mark Leroux – Head Coach
On his team’s approach to the Central Regional
We talk about it a lot. We are going up against Goliath here. I use the analogy that if you are going to fight a bully, someone who is clearly over-sized, you don’t walk up and start bad-mouthing them. You have to go and hit them in the back of the head right at the start. They (his team) came out and they were just ready to do it I think.
On being mentally tough during a day like today
Lately we have played in a lot of conditions just like this whether it has been at home or at other tournaments. It has been light rains, windy with the umbrellas up. So it’s kind of like we are used to it. Then we have gentleman like Ben Scott from the U.K. who doesn’t even carry an umbrella because he is used to this. I think the mental toughness may not come from the conditions but from the fact we are at the regional and there is stuff to overcome there. But then again there really isn’t much to overcome when everybody expects you to be 22nd.
Shawn Jasper – Sophomore
On his play today
I just played smart and made a lot of pars. I didn’t really force the issue, I was just happy to hit the greens and two-putt. I happened to hit a couple close and made a couple birdies. I made a couple bad shots. I air-mailed the green on one and got a bogey on the first hole of the day. I three-putted for a bogey on the par-three at 11, which I’ll take a bogey almost everyday there. So it was a solid round. I didn’t do anything really stupid and just kind of plodded along.
On the hardest part of the day
Just waiting around this morning. We got here a little after seven and our four and fives guys started warming up and after about five minutes it started pouring and they called everyone off of the golf course. So we just sat in the van for about two hours taking naps and listening to the radio. Then we got the okay that we were going to play and then it was just a matter of warming up. It was kind of a light mist all day, we had one little downpour on 16, but for the most part it was a light mist a little bit of wind and just wet and sloppy conditions.
The approach for tomorrow’s play
The same as today, we’ll just find out when we go out I think it’ll be a few hours later again. We’ll just get some rest and take it one shot at a time like we’ve been doing all week and all year.
On the rain delay
At first I thought it was going to give the afternoon teams an advantage. If the weather comes in this afternoon that they’ve been calling for, the showers, the wind and the cold, they aren’t going to like it out there. We actually got pretty lucky I think because it really didn’t rain on us and plus we won’t have to wake up early to finish the round because I’m sure the afternoon teams are not going to finish. So overall I feel like we are on the better side of the coin now.
His impressions of the golf course
We played it in the fall and we played it yesterday so it’s starting to grow on me. It’s not as hard as I remember it but maybe we are just playing better. It’s a fair layout.