April 11, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Battling windy conditions all day long, the Notre Dame men’s golf team finds itself in 11th place after the first two rounds of the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate, which teed off Saturday on the Scarlet Course (par 71/7,455 yards) at the Ohio State Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio. The Irish carded a 36-hole score of 56-over par 624 (309-315) and are 27 strokes behind tournament leader Northwestern entering Sunday’s final round.
Junior Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) got off to a fantastic start during the first round with a one-over par 72 that featured nine consecutive pars and a closing birdie to put him near the top of the leaderboard. However, the afternoon wasn’t as kind for the all-BIG EAST Conference standout, who succumbed to a double bogey and triple bogey three holes apart early in the second round and wound up slipping to a tie for 22nd place at 10-over par 152 (72-80).
Ohio State’s Brad Wright, who is competed as an individual participant this weekend, holds the overnight lead at even-par 142, three shots clear of East Tennessee State’s Seamus Power in the 74-man field.
Sophomore Jeff Chen (Walnut, Calif./Los Altos) is tied for 33rd place after Saturday’s first two rounds at 13-over par 155 (78-77). Freshman Tom Usher (Bradford, England/Guiseley School) is in a 43rd-place deadlock at 16-over par 158 (78-80), while junior co-captain Olavo Batista (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Chapel) shares 57th place at 18-over par 160 (82-78). Junior Carl Santos-Ocampo (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) rounds out the Irish lineup in a tie for 63rd place at 19-over par 161 (81-80).
Notre Dame returns to action at 9:30 a.m. (ET) Sunday for the final round of the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate at the Ohio State Scarlet Course in Columbus. Live scoring for the tournament is available through the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com). Complete results also will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com) and the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000) as soon as possible once Sunday’s scores are official.
— ND —
Robert Kepler Intercollegiate
April 11, 2009
Ohio State Golf Club/Scarlet Course (Columbus, Ohio)
Par 71/7,455 yards
36-HOLE TEAM RESULTS: 1. Northwestern 597 (301-296); 2. East Tennessee State 598 (295-303); 3. Kent State 599 (300-299); 4. Minnesota 604 (305-299); 5. Ohio State 606 (297-309); 6. Eastern Michigan 607 (308-299); 7. Wisconsin 613 (308-305); 8. Middle Tennessee 614 (311-303); 9. (tie) Iowa 619 (307-312) and Temple 619 (310-309); 11. NOTRE DAME 624 (309-315); 12. Penn State 626 (316-310); 13. Marshall 630 (312-318).
TOP 3 INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME GOLFERS (of 74): 1. Brad Wright (OSU)* 142 (71-71); 2. Seamus Power (ETSU) 145 (72-73); 3. Nick Latimer (KSU) 146 (72-74); 22. (tie) Doug Fortner (ND) 152 (72-80); 33. (tie) Jeff Chen (ND) 155 (78-77); 43. (tie) Tom Usher (ND) 158 (78-80); 57. (tie) Olavo Batista (ND) 160 (82-78); 63. (tie) Carl Santos-Ocampo (ND) 161 (81-80).
* – individual participant; scores do not count toward team total