Oct. 31, 2009
SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team won both of its matches on Saturday to advance to the championship at The Match Play, which is being contested on the Pine Needles Golf Course. Notre Dame downed Georgetown in the quarterfinals by advancing on a tiebreaker, as the team tied 3 to 3, but the Irish won more individual holes to earn the right to move on. Notre Dame then defeated Connecticut in the semifinals, 5.5-.5 to advance to a championship match showdown with Louisville.
In the morning session versus Georgetown, the Irish got wins from Tom Usher (Bradford, England/Guiseley School), 5 up over Trevor Matese, and Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill), 5 & 3 over Taylor Hall. Chris Walker (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) and Carl Santos-Ocampo (Naples, Fla./Community School) both dropped close matches, 1 down, to Brad Cadigan and Vincenzo Salina, respectively. Josh Sandman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) and Max Scodro (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame Prep [Ariz.]) each halved their matches Brandon Ellis and Brian Dorfman for an overall 3-3 tie with Georgetown. But with Usher and Fortner providing larger margins of victory, the Irish advanced to the semifinals.
With the right to appear in the championship match, the Irish came out firing in the afternoon and got past Connecticut, 5.5 to .5. Usher (1 up), Fortner (2 up), Santos-Ocampo (2 up) Walker (3 & 1) and Scodro (1 up) each won their matches versus the Huskies, while Sandman halved his match.
The tournament, hosted by DePaul and South Florida, features a field of 11 BIG EAST golf teams. The Irish entered the event as the top seed and received a first round bye. In Sunday’s championship match, Notre Dame will square off with second seeded Louisville
Notre Dame and Louisville will use the same group of six players on the final day of competition, with each member vying for a point to go to the teams match play score. One point will be awarded to each player who earns an outright win against his opponent, with a half point being awarded to a halved match. A team needs to earn at least three and a half points to claim the championship outright. In the event of a 3-3 tie after the six matches conclude, the championship will be granted to the team that won the most total holes in the six matches that took place.
A complete recap of Notre Dame’s Championship match with Louisville will be posted on und.com.
— ND —