Sept. 13, 2010
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team grabbed first place overall (584, +8) after the first day of action at the College of Charleston Invite from The Ocean Course. Individually, Paul McNamara III (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) leads the way for the Irish and is in a tie for third overall with a first-day score of 143 (-1).
“The afternoon round was a solid one, but still one in which we dropped a couple of shots coming in,” stated Irish head coach Jim Kubinski. “Paul, Niall Platt and Chris Walker did a great job today, though. They stayed very, very patient and committed to their shots extremely well.”
The Irish posted the low team score of the day with their afternoon round, as three Irish golfers recorded scores in the red. The team entered afternoon play 11 shots back of North Carolina State but quickly wiped that lead out, posting a team score of 284 (-4) to move from a tie for sixth after the morning round all the way to the top of the leader board by days end.
After carding an opening-round 75 (+3) to get his tournament underway, McNamara tore through the course his second time around, carding a four-under par, 68. McNamara played extremely efficient golf, carding only one bogey on the round with 12 pars and five birdies, including birdies on four of five holes in a span from the seventh to the 11th hole.
Platt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) led the way for the Irish in the morning session, playing consistent golf throughout the round on his way to carding 12 pars to go along with a pair of birdies on the par-5 seventh and par-4 ninth. He finished with a two-over par 74 in the opening 18 holes.
He wrapped up his afternoon round second amongst Irish golfers with a 36-hole total of 144 (E). Platt was able to use a strong back nine to solidify his round, netting three birdies and five pars to come in, in 34 (-2). He posted a pair of birdies and bogies along with five more pars on the front side to secure a two-under par 70.
“Both Paul and Niall made their travel squad debut today,” Kubinski remarked. “For rookies, I couldn’t be more impressed with their poise, approach and execution.”
Walker (The Woodlands, Texas) staggered out of the gates in round one, bogeying two of the first three holes played, but recovered nicely, playing the final 15 holes at two-over par to finish with a 75 (+3).
He became the third Irish golfer to post red numbers in the afternoon, carding a one-under par 71 on his second 18 holes. Walker took advantage of the front nine, posting two birdies and an eagle-3 on the par-5 seventh hole. Walker also carded two more birdies with three bogies and four pars to close out his first day of action.
Max Scodro (Chicago, Ill.) was the final ball counted during the morning session after he posted an opening-round 76 (+4). Scodro’s card was up-and-down, as he netted just nine pars on the round. He did post three birdies and an eagle (par-5, 11th), but was plagued by four bogies as well as a quintuple bogey (8) on the par-3 eighth hole.
In his second 18, Scodro made the turn at two-over par (38) after recording three bogies with a birdie on the seventh hole. He battled back to even par on the round with birdies on the 11th and 13th, but struggled to close out his round with a double bogey and a bogey on the 15th and 16th holes, finishing the first day at seven-over (151).
Jeff Chen (Walnut, Calif.) started his opening round very economically, carding a par on eight of the first ten holes to go along with one birdie and a bogey. However, he would struggle on the final eight holes of the day, registering five bogies and a double bogey to close his opening 18 holes at 79 (+7).
Chen shaved four strokes of his score in afternoon play, carding two birdies on the round to go along with 11 pars. He rounded out the first day at 10-over par (154) and sits fifth amongst the Irish rotation.
Tom Usher (Bradford, England) battled his game on day one of competition, seeing neither score count toward the team four-ball total. He started the day with a 79 (+7), which did see him post a pair of birdies but also saw him take two double bogies on the sixth and eighteenth holes.
Usher clipped one shot off of his first round total, carding a 78 (+6) in his afternoon round. He got off to a quick start, grabbing a birdie on the second but was hurt primarily on two holes, carding a triple-bogey seven on the third and a double-bogey six on the 13th.
The Irish find themselves one shot ahead of North Carolina State (+9), which concluded their day with an eight-over par, 296. Individually, College of Charleston’s John Duke Hudson leads the field after recording a two-round 139 (-5).
The College of Charleston Invite concludes tomorrow with the third and final round getting underway at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start. Live hole-by-hole scoring of the event remains available through Golfstat – accessible by going to http://www.golfstatresults.com. A recap of the final round of play for the Irish will be posted on und.com.
The College of Charleston Invite – The Ocean Course, Par 72 – 7,504
Top-Five Team Scores (36-hole totals): 1. NOTRE DAME (+8/584); 2. NC State (+9/585); 3. College of Charleston (+12/588); 4. Vanderbilt (+16/592); 5. Coastal Carolina (+17/593)
Top-Five Golfers (36-hole totals): 1. John Duke Hudson (Coll. of Charleston/139); 2. Sean Bosdosh (Maryland/142); t3. Ryan Haselden (Vanderbilt/143); t3. Paul McNamara III (NOTRE DAME/143); 5. Niall Platt (NOTRE DAME/144)
Notre Dame Scores (36-hole totals): t3. Paul McNamara III (75-68-143); 5. Niall Platt (74-70-144); 8. Chris Walker (75-71-146); t21. Max Scodro (76-75-151); t38. Jeff Chen (79-75-154); t50. Tom Usher (79-78-157)
–ND–