Oct. 21, 2003
SCARSDALE, N.Y. – Thanks to three Top 10 individual showings, the Notre Dame men’s golf team jumped three spots to finish second at The Tillinghast, which concluded Tuesday at the par-70, 6,722-yard Fenway Country Club in Scarsdale, N.Y. The Irish carded a final-round 292, the third-lowest team score of the day, and registered a two-day total of 592, winding up six strokes behind tournament champion Towson. Tuesday’s runner-up finish came on the heels of Notre Dame’s first tournament championship since 1999 one week ago at the SMU/Stonebridge Invitational.
Freshman Shane Sigsbee (McKinney, Texas/McKinney HS) capped off his most impressive performance of the season with a second consecutive round of three-over par 73, finishing tied for third overall at 146. Entering this week’s competition, Sigsbee had not broken 75 in his first six rounds of collegiate golf, but he took advantage of favorable playing conditions to lead the Irish charge to the front of the field.
Sophomore Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) also placed in the top five, firing a career-low 148 (72-76) over 36 holes to finish in a tie for fifth. Baldwin’s previous career best for two rounds was 152, which he set at the 2003 Big Red Classic.
Sophomore Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) narrowly missed his 36-hole personal best, carding a season-low round of 74 on Tuesday to finish seventh at 149. Deutsch was competing as an individual at the tournament and his score didn’t count toward Notre Dame’s team total. However, freshman Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) did see his score count and it was a good one, as the Irish rookie fired a career-low 73 on Tuesday to land in 10th place at 150. Isban now has shot 73 or better in five of his last seven rounds.
Sophomore Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews HS) was one of four golfers sharing honors for the low round of the day, registering an even-par 70 to pull himself into a 23rd-place tie at 153. Sophomore Scott Gustafson (Rochester, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) wrapped up the Notre Dame scoring in 27th place with a two-round score of 154 (78-76).
The Irish will compete in their final tournament of the fall season Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 25-26, when they travel to Stanford, Calif., for The Nelson Invitational.
– ND –
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (36-hole totals): 1. Towson 586 (296-290); 2. NOTRE DAME 592 (300-292); 3. West Florida 601 (304-297); 4. Akron 603 (299-304); 5. Maryland 604 (301-303); 6. St. John’s 608 (291-317); 7. Rutgers 609 (320-289); 8. Johnson & Wales 615 (312-303); 9. (tie) Eastern Michigan 624 (312-312) and Louisiana-Lafayette 624 (313-311); 11. Boston College 635 (327-308); 12. Iona 645 (324-321); 13. Seton Hall 662 (336-326).
TOP 9 INDIVIDUALS (of 70): 1. Alex Brueggemann (Towson) 143 (71-72); 2. Billy Wingerd (Towson) 145 (75-70); 3. (tie) Shane Sigsbee (Notre Dame) 146 (73-73) and Josh Spreng (Towson) 146 (72-74); 5. (tie) Mark Baldwin (Notre Dame) 148 (72-76) and Sean Dove (Akron) 148 (71-77); 7. (tie) Eric Deutsch (Notre Dame) 149 (75-74), John Stoltz (St. John’s) 149 (73-76) and Dan MacDonald (Maryland) 149 (70-79).
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 70): 3. (tie) Shane Sigsbee 146 (73-73); 5. (tie) Mark Baldwin 148 (72-76); 7. (tie) Eric Deutsch* 149 (75-74); 10. (tie) Cole Isban 150 (77-73); 23. (tie) Tommy Balderston 153 (83-70); 27. (tie) Scott Gustafson 154 (78-76).
* – indicates player competing as individual; score not counted toward team total