Oct. 5, 2007
Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic Notes in PDF Format
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Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic
Sunday-Monday, Oct. 7-8, 2007 • 7:45 a.m. (ET) both days
Duke University Golf Club (par 72/7,105 yards)
Durham, N.C.
Irish Look To Get Back On Track At Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic
After a frustrating eighth-place finish at last weekend’s Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic, Notre Dame will aim to swing its momentum back in a positive direction when it plays in the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic Sunday and Monday at the Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C. The Irish will be making their second appearance in three years at the Duke tournament, having finished sixth in 2005.
Sophomore Doug Fortner turned in the best outing of his young career with a tie for second place and a career-low 210 (E) at last week’s tournament in South Bend. It was second career top-five finish for Fortner, who currently leads Notre Dame with a 72.33 stroke average this season.
Quoting Coach Kubinski…
“After having a tough finish the last 36 holes at our home tournament this past week, I’m thankful for the opportunity to put it behind us and get right back after it this weekend at Duke. In spite of those two rounds, I feel we have played well since we started up in August and are ready to put 54 holes together.
“The Duke Golf Club offers a great test, having hosted many high-level events including two NCAA Championships. The course is generally very fair off the tee, but requires excellent iron play and, with any event, good putting. Of course, having begun my coaching career as a Duke assistant, I’m trusting my course knowledge will give us an extra edge.
“We’re pleased to have both Josh (Sandman) and Eddie (Peckels) returning close to home this weekend and to have one of our promising freshmen, Tyler Hock, making his travel squad debut. Tyler is a very talented young player. He has great length off the tee and is quite a shotmaker with great imagination for a player his age. With experience, he will be a great contributor for us.”
Dates and Times
Teams will play two rounds (36 holes) on Sunday, beginning with a shotgun start at 7:45 a.m. (ET). The tournament will feature continuous play on Sunday, with the second round beginning immediately upon conclusion of the morning session. Monday’s final round will use a split-tee start from the first and 10th holes, with pairings and exact tee times based upon the team standings after 36 holes. All times and formats are tentative and subject to change.
Following The Irish
Live in-progress scoring from the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic will be available through the Golfstat web site. In addition, complete results following each day’s action will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com). The latest information from the tournament, including results, scheduling updates and weather delays, also will be available on the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000).
Results also will be available via the Irish ALERT text-message system, which provides fans with regular updates on Notre Dame’s progress at the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic through text messages sent to their cell phone. For more information or to sign up, click here.
The Tournament Format
A total of 15 five-man teams (75 participants, plus nine additional golfers competing on an individual basis) will be taking part in the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic. Conventional collegiate golf team scoring rules will apply, with the lowest four scores in the five-man lineup for each round counting toward the team total. Scores by golfers competing on an individual basis do not count to the team score.
The Teams
Besides Notre Dame and tournament host Duke, the remaining teams in the field for the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic are: Chattanooga, East Carolina, Florida Southern, Houston, Iowa, Maryland, Ohio State, Old Dominion, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech and Winthrop.
According to the Sept. 19 edition of the Golf World/Nike Golf Top 25 coaches’ poll, No. 13 Duke is the only ranked team scheduled to take part in this weekend’s tournament. Two other teams received votes in the latest coaches’ survey — Chattanooga and East Carolina (two votes each; tie-41st place).
Meanwhile, the Oct. 3 ratings in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index show that three of the top 50 Division I teams will be on hand for the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic. Leading the way is sixth-ranked Chattanooga, with No. 20 Duke and No. 42 Virginia Tech the only other teams appearing on the first page of the Golfweek ratings. However, three other teams are poised to break into the Top 50 with a strong performance this weekend — Ohio State (51st), Notre Dame (57th) and Old Dominion (59th).
In addition, the Oct. 3 Golfstat rankings indicate four of this weekend’s participants are appearing in that service’s Top 50. No. 14 Chattanooga sets the bar, with No. 22 Duke, No. 37 Virginia Tech and No. 48 Ohio State also among the national leaders through the first month of play. Two other squads — No. 62 Old Dominion and No. 69 East Carolina — aren’t far off the pace.
Head-To-Head
Unlike last week’s Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic, Notre Dame has not seen much of the other opponents in this weekend’s Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic. In fact, the only team the Irish have faced thus far in 2007-08 is Iowa, which finished four shots behind Notre Dame at last week’s tournament in South Bend. For the season, the Irish are 10-10-1 (.500), with a 2-6-1 (.278) record against Top 50 clubs (1-4-1 vs. the Top 25).
The Course
The Duke University Golf Club (par 72/7,105 yards) was designed by noted course architect Robert Trent Jones and opened in September 1957. Subsequently, it was redesigned by Jones’ son, Rees, in 1994. It has played host to the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic for the past 33 years, and also has twice served as the home for the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship (1962 and 2001).
Noting The Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic
- Notre Dame will be making its second appearance at Duke’s home tournament, which will be played for the 34th time this weekend. In 2005, the Irish finished sixth at the 15-team event with a score of one-over par 865 (291-286-288) that remains tied for the seventh-lowest 54-hole mark in program history.
- Current senior tri-captain Greg Rodgers was in the Notre Dame lineup during its 2005 trip to the Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic. Rodgers carded an eight-over par 224 (76-74-74) and tied for 54th place in the 81-man field.
- Notre Dame also played at the Duke University Golf Club during the 1962 NCAA Championship. The Irish finished 17th with a two-round score of 638 (+62). Third-team All-American Tom Grace fired a 155 (+11) during stroke play and advanced to the third round of match play during the individual tournament.
- Fourth-year Notre Dame head coach Jim Kubinski spent one and a half seasons as an assistant coach for both the Duke men’s and women’s golf teams (2003-04). During that time, he helped the Blue Devil men to three tournament wins and a berth in the 2004 NCAA East Regional, while the Duke women rose to No. 1 in the nation, won 10 of 11 events, including the ’04 ACC and NCAA East Regional titles, and finished third at the 2004 NCAA Championship.
- Two North Carolina residents will be in the Notre Dame lineup for this week’s Coca-Cola Duke Golf Classic. Junior Josh Sandman (Greensboro/Southeast Guilford HS) was a two-time all-state selection and won the 2005 North Carolina Class 3A title despite missing much of his senior year with an injury (his team tied for the ’05 crown but lost on a scorecard playoff). Senior tri-captain Eddie Peckels is a relative newcomer to the Tarheel State, as his family moved to Pinehurst from Boca Raton, Fla., just prior to his enrollment at Notre Dame. His best outing in his adopted home state came at the 2005 North & South Amateur, when he made a stirring run to the semifinals with four consecutive match play wins, including three over top-11 seeds.
Last Time Out: Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic
Sophomore Doug Fortner tied the third-lowest 54-hole score in school history with an even-par 210 (68-72-70) en route to a career-best tie for second place as the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic wrapped up on Tuesday afternoon at the Warren Golf Course (par 70/7,023 yards) on the Notre Dame campus. The Irish finished tied with San Diego for eighth place in the team standings with a three-round total of 42-over par 882 (289-295-298), while No. 25 Michigan State took home the team title at seven-over par 847 and MSU’s Ryan Brehm claimed medalist honors at five-under par 205.
Fortner’s previous best tournament score and finish came in last spring’s Triumph at Pauma Valley, when he tied for fourth place at one-under par 212. The Notre Dame 54-hole scoring record is 209, originally set by Jeff Connell at the 1998 Marshall Invitational and matched by Cole Isban at the 2007 Border Olympics in Laredo, Texas.
Junior Josh Sandman turned in a solid effort, tying for 16th place at seven-over par 217 (71-73-73). Sophomore Kyle Willis collected his second top-20 finish at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic in as many years, ending up in a pack of seven players tied for 18th place at a career-low eight-over par 218 (71-74-73). Willis, who played as an individual competitor, previously set his personal-low three-round score of 224 (+14) at last year’s Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic.
Captains Courageous
Notre Dame’s three seniors have been selected as team captains for the 2007-08 season. Mike King, Eddie Peckels and Greg Rodgers all are serving in that capacity for the first time in their careers.
The .500 Rule
According to a new rule passed by the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee, teams must finish their season with a winning head-to-head record (i.e. better than .500) in order to be considered for a berth in postseason play.
Things You Should Know About The Irish
- Notre Dame has won six BIG EAST Conference titles in its 12-year league affiliation, stringing together three consecutive crowns from 1995-97 and again from 2004-06. The Irish also have made 33 NCAA postseason appearances in their history (most recently in 2006 with a trip to the NCAA East Regional), winning the 1944 national title and finishing second in 1937.
- Notre Dame has taken its play to new levels in recent years, posting three of the top seven single-season stroke averages in school history since head coach Jim Kubinski took over as head coach in January 2005. The Irish also have carded nine of the top 13 tournament scores (54 holes) in program history during the Kubinski era, including a school-record 842 (-22) at the 2006 BIG EAST Championship.
- Notre Dame’s impressive resurgence of late has been augmented by its play against nationally-ranked opponents. In fact, since Kubinski arrived under the Golden Dome, the Irish have defeated 13 Top 25 teams (according to Golfweek) and posted 13 top-five tournament finishes, including three event titles (most recently the ’06 BIG EAST Championship).
- Kubinski himself was nominated for a place on the 2007 GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teachers List, after being placed into consideration by the Indiana Section of the PGA. Approximately 400-500 people are chosen annually from the 30,000 PGA professionals nationwide for a few select places on the GOLF Magazine list, whose membership includes such notables as Hank Haney, Butch Harmon, David Leadbetter and Rick Smith.
Next Up: Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate (Oct. 21-23)
Notre Dame heads to the Music City when it competes in the Mason Rudolph Intercollegiate, hosted by Vanderbilt, Oct. 21-23 at the Legends Club of Tennessee in suburban Nashville. The Irish will be making their first appearance at the tournament, which also will feature Mississippi, Mississippi State and Memphis among the other participants.