Oct. 25, 2016
By Leigh Torbin
VERO BEACH, Fla. — The final fall tournament for the Notre Dame men’s golf team features a strong field with five of GolfStat’s top 50 teams among the 15 members. The first day did not go as planned for the Irish who placed 14th out of 36 holes of action at the par-72, 7,350-yard Quail Valley Golf Club in Vero Beach, Florida.
Notre Dame carded a 291 and a 295 of Monday for a total of 586 (+10). No. 43 Michigan State leads the field at 561 (-15), followed closely by Jacksonville at 562 (-14) and No. 38 Arkansas at 563 (-13).
Player of the Day
Blake Barens shot par-or-better for both of his rounds on Monday, matching par with a first round 72 before slipping a stroke under with a second round 71. Barens played consistently on the day, highlighted by a second round with 15 pars, two birdies and just one bogey. Heading into Tuesday’s fall semester final round, Barens has shot par-or-better in 12 of his 16 competitive rounds.
Notre Dame’s Lineup
There are no individuals in this event so the Irish, as with the other competing schools, just have their primary five players in action.
T17. Blake Barens (72-71=143, -1)
T28. Miguel Delgado (70-74=144, Even)
T57. Matthew Rushton (75-74=149, +5)
T60. Ben Albin (74-76=150, +6)
75. Thomas Steve (78-83=161, +17)
Final Round on Tuesday
The third and final round of the event will see a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. The Irish will begin play between holes 15 and 18 while paired with golfers from West Virginia and Indiana.
–ND–
Leigh Torbin, athletics communications associate director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2013 and coordinates all media efforts for Notre Dame’s women’s basketball and men’s golf teams. A native of Framingham, Massachusetts, Torbin graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. He has previously worked full-time on the athletic communications staffs at Vanderbilt, Florida, Connecticut and UCF.