March 2, 2004
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. – Notre Dame sophomore Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) carded a three-over par 216 (73-68-75) to tie for 14th place at the 27th annual Cleveland Golf Collegiate Invitational which concluded Tuesday afternoon in Westlake Village, Calif. As a team, the Irish finished 17th in the 17-team field with a score of 66-over 918 (297-310-311) at the par 71, 6,815-yard North Ranch Country Club. No. 10 Texas, one of nine ranked teams in the field, wound up winning the tournament at five-under par 847, a full 15 strokes clear of the host school, USC.
Gustafson’s 14th-place finish was his best since he placed third at the SMU/Stonebridge Invitational back in October. His performance was highlighted by a career-low 68 in the second round, and his final score of 216 was his second-lowest of the 2003-04 campaign (he fired a six-under par 210 at the SMU tourney).
Sophomore Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews HS) placed second among Irish golfers and tied for 64th place with a 16-over par 229 (73-81-75). Only a brief run of bogies midway through his second round prevented Balderston from making a serious charge at the leaders. Freshman Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) was tied for 78th place, carding a 21-over 234 (74-79-81), while sophomore Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) was in 85th place at 26-over par 239 (77-82-80). Sophomore Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) completed the Irish lineup this week with a 90th-place finish at 37-over par 250 (77-82-91).
Notre Dame will return to the links March 12-14 when it heads to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Conrad Rehling Spring Invitational.
– ND –
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. Texas 847 (281-278-288); 2. USC 862 (283-286-293); 3. (tie) TCU 872 (285-295-292) and BYU 872 (286-289-297); 5. California 874 (290-291-293); 6. (tie) Arizona State 875 (285-302-288) and UCLA 875 (293-291-291); 8. Tennessee 876 (279-303-294); 9. (tie) Stanford 881 (294-299-288) and Alabama 881 (280-299-302); 11. (tie) Oregon State 891 (292-284-315) and Pepperdine 891 (298-300-293); 13. Washington 892 (298-297-297); 14. Arkansas 895 (292-297-306); 15. Illinois 898 (296-300-302); 16. Oregon 901 (206-304-301); 17. NOTRE DAME 918 (297-310-311).
TOP 8 INDIVIDUALS (of 90): 1. Matthew Rosenfeld (Texas) 208 (67-68-73); 2. (tie) Jeff Bell (Texas) 209 (72-68-69), Jason Hartwick (Texas) 209 (71-67-71) and Peter Tomasulo (California) 209 (69-69-71); 5. Chez Reavie (Arizona State) 212 (72-73-67); 6. (tie) Alejandro Canizares (Arizona State) 213 (67-75-71) and Michael Putnam (Pepperdine) 213 (72-69-72); 8. Scott Oxandaboure (USC) 214 (68-70-76).
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 90): 14. (tie) Scott Gustafson 216 (73-68-75); 64. (tie) Tommy Balderston 229 (73-81-75); 78. (tie) Cole Isban 234 (74-79-81); 85. Eric Deutsch 239 (77-82-80); 90. Mark Baldwin 250 (77-82-91).