Oct. 21, 2013
BEALLSVILLE, Md. – A five-shot improvement in the second round vaulted the University of Notre Dame men’s golf team four spots up the leaderboard Monday, allowing the Irish to end day one in fourth place at the Georgetown Intercollegiate at the Members Club at Four Streams.
Notre Dame responded from an opening round 297 by carding an eight-over-par 292 during the afternoon session of play (297-292-589). The Irish enter the final round only three shots behind defending tournament champion Toledo (287-299-586) for second place.
Junior Patrick Grahek, competing in the tournament as an individual, tied a career-best with a one-under-par 70 in the second round as part of a day one 141 (71-70, -1), earning a tie for fourth place. Grahek earlier carded an 18-hole round of 70 (during the first round) this fall at Notre Dame’s own Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic on Sept. 23-24.
Senior tri-captain Niall Platt answered a three-over 74 in his opening 18 with an even par 71, recording a 145 total to tie for 13th place. Platt has finished in the top 15 in each of Notre Dame’s first three starts this season.
Freshman Matt Rushton joined Platt in a share of 13th place after posting rounds of 71-74-145 (+3). Classmate Blake Barens was the fourth Irish player among the top 30, checking in at 149 (73-76) in a tie for 23rd place.
Junior Tyler Wingo improved by 11 strokes from his first round score of 82 to post an even par 71 (82-71-153), pushing Wingo into a tie for 43rd place. Sophomore Cory Sciupider (79-78-157) rounded out the Notre Dame finishers in a tie for 56th place.
UAB opened a 26-shot advantage with rounds of 278-282-560 to log the only score among the 12-team field under par (-8) to begin the event. Penn State capped the first 36 holes in third place (295-292-587), with Notre Dame and Campbell (293-299-592, fifth place) rounding out the top five.
Paul Dunne led five UAB players who posted top 10 scores in the individual draw, shooting matching scores of 69 to take a one shot lead at 138 (-4). Teammate Thomas Sutton claimed the runner-up position after firing a 70-69-139 (-3), with Toledo’s Otto Black in third place at 140 (69-71). Toledo’s Chris Selfridge (69-72) and UAB’s Martin Rohwer (70-71) tied Grahek for fourth place overall.
The third and final round of the Georgetown Intercollegiate is scheduled to begin Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
Georgetown Intercollegiate-Mem. Club at Four Streams-Par-71, 6,862 Yds.
TOP-10 TEAMS (After Round 2): 1. UAB 278-282-560, -8; 2. Toledo 287-299-586, +18; 3. Penn State 295-292-587, +19; 4. Notre Dame 297-292-589, +21; 5. Campbell 293-299-592, +24; T6. William & Mary 301-293-594, +26; T6. DePaul 297-297-594, +26; 8. West Florida 302-295-597, +29; T9. Miami (Ohio) 296-302-598, +30; T9. Xavier 295-303-598, +30.
TOP-10 INDIVIDUALS (After Round 2): 1. Paul Dunne (UAB) 69-69-138, -4; 2. Thomas Sutton (UAB) 70-69-139, -3; 3. Otto Black (Toledo) 69-71-140, -2; T4. Chris Selfridge (Toledo) 69-72-141, -1; T4. Martin Rohwer (UAB) 70-71-141, -1; T4. Patrick Grahek (Notre Dame) 71-70-141, -1; T7. JD Dornes (Penn State) 73-69-142, E; T7. Alvaro Veiga (Campbell) 71-71-142, E; T7. Sam Love (UAB) 69-73-142, E; 10. Wilson McDonald (UAb) 70-73-143, +1.
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (After Round 2): T4. Patrick Grahek 71-70-141, -1; T13. Niall Platt 74-71-145, +3; T13. Matt Rushton 71-74-145, +3; T43. Tyler Wingo 82-71-153, +11; T56. Cory Sciupider 79-78-157, +15.
–ND–