March 11, 2014
SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The University of Notre Dame men’s golf team showed true mental and physical toughness to grind through Tuesday’s final round at the Lamkin San Diego Classic, carding a final round team score of 300 at the San Diego Country Club to close the team’s spring season debut tournament. The Irish posted a three-round total of 890 (297-293-300) to tie for seventh place.
An unforeseen challenge that Notre Dame was confronted with in its opening spring start was illness, as a handful of team members contracted a stomach flu over the weekend in advance of the event. The fight shown by the squad to persevere through the trying times was not lost on Notre Dame head coach Jim Kubinski.
“I was feeling good about our chances to put up a good round today, whether that allowed us to move up from sixth place (Monday overnight position) or not,” Kubinski said. “It just looked like that first 36-hole day of the spring took a lot out of us. Especially those guys who were dealing with that tough stomach bug.”
Senior co-captain Niall Platt opened his final round with a birdie at the par 4 1st hole, and kicked in a second birdie at the 236-yard third hole to move to two-under-par on the day. A lone bogey on the scorecard during his front nine left Platt with a one-under score of 35 on the outward half.
Seven pars and one birdie on the second nine brought Platt in with a homeward even par 36 and a third round one-under-par 71. The Santa Barbara, Calif. native paced all Irish finishers in a tie for 13th place, narrowly missing what would have been his 13th career top 10 result at two-over 218 (74-73-71).
“Niall put up a great effort,” Kubinski said. “He hadn’t eaten much of anything since Friday, so to see him grind out a 71 today, on the heels of playing 36 yesterday, was exceptional. He is as consistent as it gets. I’m excited to watch him as we move forward this spring.”
Fresh off his second round three-under 69 and beginning the final round in a tie for 11th place, junior Tyler Wingo carded matching nine-hole totals of two-over par 38 on Tuesday as part of a four-over score of 76. Wingo was the second Notre Dame player to crack the field’s top 25 with a share of 19th place (75-69-76-220).
Junior Patrick Grahek closed his third round with a birdie-bogey finish as part of a five-over 77, which left him in a tie for 39th place at 226 (74-75-77). Freshman Blake Barens played his final 13 holes in one-under-par to post his third straight 76, and tie for 42nd place (76-76-76-228). Freshman Matt Rushton made a team-high five birdies during his round, including three in four holes on a back nine stretch, as part of an inward nine 38 on his way to a tie for 52nd place (74-79-78-231).
Southern California claimed the team championship with a final round score of 280, reaching 12-under-par for a seven-stroke victory (286-286-280-852). Defending champion and co-host San Diego State checked in as the tournament runner up at seven-under (283-287-289-859), while Wake Forest was the only other team to break par in third place (292-286-284-862, -2). Michigan logged a fourth-place result (291-286-294-871), while event co-host San Diego placed fifth (287-293-293-873).
Notre Dame will now travel across the country to close its Spring Break tournament schedule, taking part in the Talis Park Challenge at the Talis Park Golf Club in Naples, Fla. on March 16-17.
Lamkin San Diego Classic-San Diego, Calif.-Par-72, 7,033 Yds.
TOP-10 TEAMS (Final): 1. No. 22 Southern California 286-286-280-852, -12; 2. No. 40 San Diego State 283-287-289-859, -5; 3. No. 44 Wake Forest 292-286-284-862, -2; 4. Michigan 291-286-294-871, +7; 5. San Diego 287-293-293-873, +9; 6. Oregon State 288-307-292-887, +23; 7. Notre Dame 297-293-300-890, +26; 8. Pepperdine 298-301-299-898, +34; 9. Utah 311-297-296-904, +40; 10. UC Irvine 293-314-298-905, +41.
TOP-10 INDIVIDUALS (Final): 1. No. 99 Xander Schauffele (San Diego State) 67-71-67-205, -11; 2. No. 47 Rico Hoey (Southern California) 71-69-67-207, -9; T3. Danny Guise (Wake Forest) 72-71-67-210, -6; T3. Taylor Schmidt (San Diego) 71-69-70-210, -6; 5. Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego State) 73-69-71-213, -3; T6. Chris O’Neill (Michigan) 69-74-71-214, -2; T6. Eric Sugimoto (Southern California) 70-74-70-214, -2; T8. Noori Hyun (Michigan) 74-70-71-215, -1; T8. Jeffery Kang (Southern California) 71-73-71-215, -1; T8. Gunn Yang (San Diego State) 70-74-71-215, -1.
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (Final): T13. Niall Platt 74-73-71-218, +2; T19. Tyler Wingo 75-69-76-220, +4; T39. Patrick Grahek 74-75-77-226, +10; T42. Blake Barens 76-76-76-228, +12; T52. Matt Rushton 74-79-78-231, +15.
–ND–
— Tony Jones, Media Relations Assistant