Feb. 20, 2008
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Junior Josh Sandman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) and sophomore Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) shared team-high scoring honors with a tie for 29th place at 224 (+8), as Notre Dame closed out play at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational on Tuesday at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The Irish finished the tournament in 15th place at 39-over par 903 (306-301-296), 30 strokes behind repeat champion Alabama.
Sandman (73-76-75) and Fortner (74-73-77) wound up 15 shots behind tournament medalist Joel Sjoholm of Georgia State, who led wire-to-wire. The John Hayt Collegiate Invitational is considered one of the nation’s top college tournaments, with 10 of the top 50 teams (according to Golfweek), including four of the top 10 squads, were in attendance.
Playing as an individual participant, native Floridian and Irish sophomore Carl Santos-Ocampo (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) tied for 38th place at 10-over par 226 (76-76-74). Freshman Tyler Hock (Ocala, Fla./Forest) also wrapped up his homecoming on a high note with the best score of the tournament by an Irish golfer, shooting a final-round 70 (-2) and finishing tied for 65th place at 16-over par 232 (88-74-70).
Classmate Connor Alan-Lee (Solana Beach, Calif./La Jolla Country Day School) was three shots further back in a 69th-place tie at 19-over par 235 (78-78-79). Senior tri-captain Greg Rodgers (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul’s School) closed out the Irish lineup in a 78th-place tie at 25-over par 241 (81-86-74).
Notre Dame returns to competition March 3-4 in the USC Collegiate Invitational, to be held at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif. Live in-progress scoring will be available on the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com) and full results will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com), as well as on the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000).
— ND —