CARY, N.C. – It’s an ACC showdown atop the Stitch Intercollegiate standings. Play was stopped halfway through Friday’s second round as No. 26 Notre Dame men’s golf ended in second place at 20-under par, just one stroke off the leader No. 9 NC State, at 21-under par. Virginia Tech hovers right behind in third at 19-under par.
The Fighting Irish were seven strokes back from the Wolfpack after the first round, but rallied in round two, where they were seven-under-par before play was halted.
The Irish boast four players in the current top-10 on the individual leaderboard. Senior Davis Chatfield leads the way in third place at six-under-par. He sits three back from leader Christian Salzer of NC State.
Next, Tucker Clark ended the day in sixth place at five-under. Then Andrew O’Leary and Palmer Jackson follow right behind in 10th place at four-under.
ROUND ONE
Clark tied the program record for the lowest round score, firing off an impressive seven-under-par. His first round 65 tied Salzer from NC State for the lead. Clark went three-under on the front-nine with birdies on three, five and six. Then the freshman went four-under on the back-nine, which included five birdies, thus totaling eight birdies overall for the round.
Chatfield was tied for 11th after round one after carding a 69 (-3). Jackson followed right behind in 16th with a 70 (-2).
Then Taichi Kho and Andrew O’Leary made it a clean sweep of all five Irish under-par, as both tallied a 71 (-1). In addition, O’Leary had a special moment on the par-five fifth, where he captured an eagle.
ROUND TWO
Chatfield surged up the leaderboard in round two where he started birdie, birdie, par, par, birdie on the front-nine. His day, along with the rest of the squad, ended after 11 holes. Chatfield was three-under on the round.
Jackson was playing bogey-free golf in round two with birdies on six and 10, thus two-under. O’Leary caught fire mid-second round, recording five birdies over a seven-hole stretch. O’Leary was three-under when play halted.
Clark was two-over in round two while Kho was one-over.
— ND —