April 4, 2004
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Behind a season-best performance from sophomore Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep), the Notre Dame men’s golf team finished in a three-way tie for 14th place at the Cleveland Golf/ASU Invitational, which concluded Sunday afternoon in Augusta, Ga. The Irish carded a three-round score of 892 (298-300-294), its lowest 54-hole total of the spring, to match the 28-over par scores of Georgia Southern and Toledo – the trio was 31 strokes behind tournament champion Minnesota. The Forest Hills Golf Club layout (par 72, 7,231 yards) is notorious for allowing low scores and Notre Dame’s final round score of 294 (+6) was its second-best mark of the spring.
Baldwin turned in a solid all-around performance this weekend, winding up tied for 18th place with a season-best score of two-over 218 (74-74-70). He finished the tournament with a flourish, carding birdies on his last two holes to post the second-lowest single-round score of his career, and his best since a second-round 70 at the Texas A&M Border Olympics exactly one year ago in Laredo, Texas. Baldwin’s best 54-hole total of his career was a two-under par 211, which came at the 2002 Nelson Invitational, also the site of his best single round ever (a four-under 67).
Sophomore Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) steadily improved in each of his three rounds, tying for 35th overall with a six-over par 222 (75-74-73). Meanwhile, freshman Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) slipped a bit in his final round and ended up tied for 62nd place at 10-over 226 (75-73-78).
Sophomores Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews HS) and Daniel Klauer (Granger, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) completed the Irish scoring by tying for 82nd place at 18-over par 234. Like Gustafson, Klauer showed constant improvement over the weekend, culminating with a final-round 74 (-2), which tied the lowest round of his career (74 at the Rice Intercollegiate in February).
Notre Dame will get back on the links next weekend when it travels to West Lafayette, Ind., April 9-11 for the Boilermaker Invitational, hosted by Midwest District rival Purdue.
– ND –
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. Minnesota 861 (283-291-287); 2. Duke 865 (286-288-291); 3. UCLA 866 (282-285-299); 4. Augusta State 871 (296-282-293); 5. Georgia 874 (288-291-295); 6. Clemson 876 (292-290-294); 7. Wake Forest 877 (288-287-302); 8. Texas 881 (303-286-292); 9. (tie) North Carolina State 882 (291-286-305) and South Carolina 882 (293-294-295); 11. Alabama 886 (302-287-297); 12. North Carolina 889 (295-292-302); 13. North Florida 890 (291-294-305); 14. (tie) NOTRE DAME 892 (298-300-294), Georgia Southern 892 (295-295-302) and Toledo 892 (295-302-295); 17. Virginia Tech 893 (302-293-298); 18. East Tennessee State 902 (292-303-307).
TOP NINE INDIVIDUALS (of 90): 1. (tie) Matt Hendrix (Clemson) 207 (72-68-67) and Nathan Smith (Duke) 207 (68-70-69); 3. Bill Haas (Wake Forest) 208 (67-71-70); 4. Steve Conway (UCLA) 209 (70-68-71); 5. Bronson LaCassie (Minnesota) 211 (70-72-69); 6. Kalle Edberg (Augusta State) 212 (75-67-70); 7. Travis Johnson (UCLA) 213 (68-71-74); 8. (tie) Mike Castleforte (Duke) 215 (70-71-74) and David Morgan (Minnesota) 215 (72-71-72).
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 90): 18. (tie) Mark Baldwin 218 (74-74-70); 35. (tie) Scott Gustafson 222 (75-74-73); 62. (tie) Cole Isban 226 (75-73-78); 82. (tie) Tommy Balderston 234 (74-83-77) and Daniel Klauer 234 (81-79-74).