May 18, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s golf team is set to begin the 2011 NCAA Florida Regional at 8:50 a.m. (ET) Thursday at the Golden Ocala Golf Course in Ocala, Fla. The Irish look to claim one of the top four spots in the 14-team regional to earn a spot at the 2011 NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, Okla.
2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Florida RegionalOcala, Fla. - Golden Ocala Golf Course
First Round - Thursday, May 19Tee Time: 8:50 a.m. (ET)Pairing: Baylor and Kennesaw State
Second Round - Friday, May 20Tee Time: TBAPairing: Baylor and Kennesaw State
Third Round - Saturday, May 21Tee Time: TBAPairing: TBA
Live stats available at www.golfstat.com
Irish Set To Compete At NCAA Florida Regional This Weekend
Notre Dame will step onto the course in NCAA postseason play for the 34th time in program history, and the first time since 2005-06, when it participates in the NCAA Florida Regional Thursday-Saturday at the Golden Ocala Golf Club in Ocala, Fla. The Irish, who won the 1944 NCAA title and have 19 top-10 NCAA finishes to their credit, will be looking to take the next step in their return to national prominence with a trip back to the NCAA finals for the first time since 1966.
Notre Dame comes into the weekend playing some of its best golf of the year, claiming the BIG EAST Tournament for the seventh time since joining the conference and a stroke average of 291.85, the lowest stroke average, so far, since the count-four stroke average began in 1980.
Individuals Shine In 2010-11
The 2010-11 golf season saw seven top-10 finishes by the highest Irish finisher at a tournament. Notre Dame placed at least one golfer in the top 10 in each of the fall tournaments with five of those being top-five finishes and two being outright victories.
Tom Usher claimed the title at the St. Mary’s Invitational back in October, while Max Scodro won the BIG EAST Championship to conclude the season. The remaining top five finishes came at The Invitational at Kiawah (Niall Platt, T-2nd), The Firestone Invitational (Max Scodro, 3rd), Lone Star Invitational (Chris Walker and Niall Platt, T-3rd) and the Battle at the Warren (Jeff Chen and Max Scodro, T-2nd).
Quoting Coach Kubinski …
On what his team can take advantage of on the course…
“From what I can tell looking at the golf course and judging by the event Florida hosted here last year, scoring will be at a premium. We’ll need to hit quality approaches and give ourselves plenty of good opportunities. That means strong short iron play, making our share of putts and executing in the short games areas when we do miss a green. We’ll need more of an aggressive approach here too. Given the scoring opportunities and the number of very good teams competing, we’ll need some rounds under par.”
On the return of Jeff Chen to the Irish lineup…
“Jeff is a very consistent player. He drives it accurately and chips and putts beautifully. Both he and Connor battled hard to fill in for Tom this week. Jeffy was just in a little better form. From his 69 at the Battle at the Warren in mid-April right through qualifying last weekend, Jeff has played well. He also seems to be hitting it longer than he has, really, at any point in his career. I know he can putt. He also brings a great attitude to everything he does. I’m happy two of our seniors, Connor and Jeff, have been able to step in and contribute both at BIG EAST and here at NCAA’s. Our senior class, as a whole, is one I’m very proud of. They’ve meant so much to our program on and off the course. Their efforts have been outstanding. It’s fitting they’ve been rewarded with these opportunities.”
On the field for the NCAA Florida Regional…
“Our field is very competitive. Florida, essentially playing at home, will obviously be tough. We have the defending National Champs here in Augusta State and an Arkansas team that, when it gets hot, can beat anyone. I think we’re a deceiving seed though. We had a two week stretch in March that inflated our ranking a great deal and impacted our seeding. If you really look at it though, our play all Fall and coming out of April would have us as a much higher seed. I think we’ll be tough to beat too.”
On the long layoff between BIG EASTs and the NCAAs…
“No coach likes a layoff of more than a week or two. We’ve been off nearly a month, with our exam reading period and final exams obviously taking priority and the 10 days all teams have leading into Regionals. I’m not too concerned though. We’ve looked better and better each day in prep the last few days and most of our players competed in local US Open qualifying on Monday. The competition was just what they needed. Having Chris go through successfully has to give him a great deal of confidence. Max and Niall were really right there too. There are so many ways to prepare for tournaments though. Some players like to play their way into an event. Some prefer prepping away from competition. We won’t lose any sleep over it. We’ll tune up a bit more in the practice round and be ready come Thursday.”
Following The Irish
Live scoring (every three holes) for the NCAA Florida Regional will be available through the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com). Complete results following each day’s action also will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com).
The Tournament Format
A total of 14 five-man teams (70 participants plus six individual participants from non-competing teams) will be taking part in the NCAA Florida Regional. 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. The five teams with the lowest 54-hole scores (and the lowest-scoring individual not on a top-five finisher) will advance to the NCAA Championships, to be held May 31-June 5 on Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Okla.
In case of team ties for NCAA Championship berths, a sudden-death playoff will be utilized, with the top four individual scores on each hole combined for the team total. Individual ties will be broken after any team playoff has concluded.
Head-To-Head
Notre Dame has faced five of the 14 teams in this weekend’s Florida Regional, sporting a combined record of 2-4 (.333) against those squads. The highest-seeded team in the regional that the Irish have defeated this year is No. 10 seeded and 56th ranked (according to Golfstat) Missouri, whom Notre Dame bested by 18 strokes at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic back in September. The Irish also have defeated Jackson State at the Battle of the Warren on April 12.
Torrid Fall Season
The Irish enjoyed one of their most successful Fall season, finishing runner-up or better in each of the five tournaments. The string began with second-place finishes at The Invitational at Kiawah (12 teams), Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic (14 teams), The Firestone Invitational (13 teams) and the Lone Star Invitational (12 teams), culminating in the Irish winning the final tournament of the fall season, the St. Mary’s Invitational (15 teams), by a full 20 shots over host St. Mary”s.
BIG EAST Champs Again!
In the team’s last tournament before learning its NCAA fate, Notre Dame returned to the top of the BIG EAST Conference, winning the conference tournament for the seventh time in program history and first time since ’05-06. Max Scodro led the charge for the Irish, finishing as the tournament’s individual medalist with a 54-hole score of 212 (-1).
Scodro’s under-par score represented the lone total to break par of the 60 individuals in the tournament and gave the Irish their first outright medalist since Mark Baldwin topped the charts in a rain-shortened tournament back in ’04-05. In addition to Scodro, all four remaining Irish players finished in the top 35 with freshman Niall Platt (T-6th) and sophomore Paul McNamara III (T-10th) also placing in the top 10.
Notre Dame ended the tournament with a 54-hole total of 876 (+24) for a six shot victory over second place Louisville (882, +30). Villanova rounded out the top three at 889 (+37).
–ND–