Oct. 24, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s golf team prepares to get its final tournament of the fall season underway on Monday at the St. Mary’s Invite in Seaside, Calif. The two-day tournament allows all teams to play on two different courses, taking to the Bayonet Course for rounds one and three and Blackhorse Golf Course in round two.
The Bayonet Course sets up as a par 72, 7,117-yard challenge, while the Blackhorse Golf Course sets up as a par 72, spanning 7,024 yards.
“We’ll have an opportunity to play each course during practice rounds this weekend, Irish head coach Jim Kubinski states. “They’re somewhat differing layouts but on the same piece of ground. I don’t anticipate any great challenges in playing two courses for the event. It’s just a matter of putting a good game plan together. I would say they are known to be ball strikers’ courses, which will hopefully suit us well.”
The St. Mary’s Invite features the most teams that the Irish have faced in any single tournament on the season, with a total of 15 teams taking to the tees. The field also sets up with a heavy dose of home cooking, as eight of the teams competing – Cal Poly, Loyola Marymount, Pacific, San Francisco, Santa Clara, St. Mary’s (Calif.), UC-Irvine, UC-Santa Barbara – call the state of California home.
Last time out for the Irish, the team earned their fourth-consecutive runner-up finish at the Lone Star Invitational. The squad ended the tournament at two-under par (862), finishing seven shots back of UT-Arlington. Chris Walker and Niall Platt paced the Irish, earning a split of third place with a score of 213 (-3).
Notre Dame will send the same rotation to the course that competed last weekend with Walker, Platt, Max Scodro, Tom Usher and Paul McNamara III. Connor Alan-Lee joins the fold, competing as an individual for the team.
“Connor will play as our individual,” Kubinski states. “As for our rotation, I’m happy with Paul’s play of late. He did a solid job in Texas after a month away from the lineup. Of course, Paul has also looked good in prep this week, shooting 71 at Spyglass Hill earlier in the week. In fact we’ve had solid play throughout this week from everyone in our preparation rounds. Our team is heading into the event with pretty good momentum.”
“I would like to see us get a 5th score on a consistent basis,” Kubinski continues. “We have a great core group that is very talented. They’re great competitors and hungry for a win. Getting that extra score to choose from will enable us to be a Top 20 team, one capable of winning against any team.”
THE COMPETITION: The St. Mary’s Invite will be made up of a 15-team field, including (Golfstat rankings from 10.20.10 in parenteses): Cal Poly (138), Florida Gulf Coast, Loyola Marymount (153), Loyola (Md.) (175), Marquette (186), Miami (Ohio) (89), Nevada (94), Northern Illinois (139), Notre Dame (27), Pacific (119), San Francisco (45), Santa Clara (103), St. Mary’s (Calif.) (125), UC-Irvine (69) and UC-Santa Barbara (126).
Kubinski on the St. Mary’s Invite field…
“The field here in California is similar to our first four events. There are definitely a few teams capable of winning. I know we’ve already played against both St. Mary’s and San Francisco. They’re talented teams. In fact, San Francisco had both co-medalists from our home event (the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic). I believe UC-Irvine is coming off a Top 5 finish last week. This will be a good test for our boys. It’s always a good challenge to play California teams in their own backyard.”
FORMAT: Each team’s lineup will be comprised of five golfers with the lowest four scores for each round counting towards the overall team score. The 54-hole tournament will be broken up into two days with the first 36 holes to be played on Monday and the final 18 set for Tuesday. The teams will play Bayonet Golf Course for the first and third rounds, while Blackhorse Golf Course will be played for the second round.
RESULTS: Live hole-by-hole scoring of the St. Mary’s Invitational will be available through Golfstat. To access the site go to http://www.golfstatresults.com. Daily recaps and standings will be posted on und.com following each day of action.