April 11, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team fired a final-round 303 on Sunday to place 15th at the Boilermaker Invitational, which was contested in West Lafayette, Ind., at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. The Irish finished with a three-round total of 44-over par 908 (303-302-303), putting them 53 strokes behind tournament champion and host Purdue. The 18-team event was held at the par 72, 7,035-yard Kampen Course that will play host to the NCAA Central Regional next month.
Sophomore Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) looked solid all weekend long, finishing with a final-round 73 to post a five-over par 221 (72-76-73) for the tournament. In five events this spring, Gustafson has shot 222 or better four times and in his last 12 rounds, he has shot higher than 75 just twice.
Freshman Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) stumbled a bit on the final day, shooting a 78 to close in 60th place at 13-over par 229 (75-76-78). However, sophomore Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews HS) made up for Isban’s troubles with an even-par 72, the best final-round score by the Irish on Sunday and the seventh round of par or better for Balderston this year. He finished at 16-over par 232 (82-78-72), tied for 69th place with classmate Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS), who opened with rounds of 78 and 74 before struggling to an 80 on his final circuit.
Sophomore Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) also had his difficulties during the final round, carding an 82 and winding up in 83rd place with a score of 20-over par 236 (78-76-82).
Notre Dame will have the next two weeks off to prepare for the 2004 BIG EAST Conference Championship, which will be held April 24-25 at the Warren Golf Course on the Notre Dame campus. The Irish placed second at last year’s conference tournament, two strokes behind champion and NCAA qualifier Virginia Tech.
– ND –
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. Purdue 855 (285-277-293); 2. Colorado 857 (288-284-285); 3. Kentucky 867 (291-280-296); 4. TCU 872 (293-285-294); 5. Indiana 878 (297-288-293); 6. Northwestern 882 (292-288-302); 7. Illinois 883 (289-290-304); 8. Oklahoma State 884 (295-292-297); 9. Kent State 885 (286-300-299); 10. Oklahoma 887 (301-287-299); 11. Louisville 888 (294-287-307); 12. Kansas State 889 (300-289-300); 13. Miami (Ohio) 896 (297-299-300); 14. Michigan 901 (301-297-303); 15. NOTRE DAME 908 (303-302-303); 16. Michigan State 915 (307-298-310); 17. Iowa 919 (309-304-306); 18. Wisconsin 928 (301-315-312).
TOP NINE INDIVIDUALS (of 90): 1. Kane Webber (Colorado) 206 (71-69-66); 2. Jeff Overton (Indiana) 209 (72-67-70); 3. (tie) John Holmes (Kentucky) 212 (72-70-70), Shiv Kapur (Purdue) 212 (71-69-72) and Tom Johnson (Northwestern) 212 (69-69-74); 6. (tie) Peter Richardson (Purdue) 213 (71-69-73) and J.J. Killeen (TCU) 213 (70-71-72); 8. (tie) Alex Noren (Oklahoma State) 214 (69-73-72) and Blake Moore (Colorado) 214 (70-71-73).
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 90): 27. (tie) Scott Gustafson 221 (72-76-73); 60. (tie) Cole Isban 229 (75-76-78); 69. (tie) Tommy Balderston 232 (82-78-72) and Eric Deutsch 232 (78-74-80); 83. Mark Baldwin 236 (78-76-82).