Sept. 13, 2009
WAYZATA, Minn. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team shot a 588 (12-over par) in the first two rounds of play at the Gopher Invitational, placing the team in sixth place with one round to play. Notre Dame opened their season with a 302 (14-over par) in Sunday’s first round but took 16 strokes off that score to card a 286 (two-under par) in the second round to move from ninth to sixth on the leaderboard. Fifth-year senior Josh Sandman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) led the charge by firing a 66 (six-under par) in the second round, matching the third lowest round in program history.
Through two rounds of play, Sandman leads the Irish with a 143 (one-under par) and he is also tied for fifth on the individual leaderboard. After posting a 77 in the morning round, Sandman matched his lowest collegiate round by posting a 66 in the afternoon. His 66 included an eagle on the par-5 15th as well as birdies on the 3rd, 5th, 6th, 9th and 13th holes. He leads the field in par-5 scoring with a minus-7 mark.
Junior Connor Alan-Lee (Solana Beach, Calif./La Jolla Country Day) is tied for 20th through two rounds after turning in a 147 (three-over par). He registered a 73 in the first round and followed up with a second round 74. Entered as an individual, Alan-Lee’s scores were not counted towards Notre Dame’s team mark.
Senior Carl Santos-Ocampo (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) and junior Jeff Chen (Walnut, Calif./Los Altos) are tied for 35th through two rounds as each turned in five-over par 149’s. Santos-Ocampo opened with a first round 75 and followed up with a 74 in the second round. He had five birdies on the day. Chen shot a 77 in his first round but followed up with an even-par 72 in the afternoon session, which included birdies at the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 13th holes. Santos-Ocampo and Chen had each of their rounds counted towards the team score.
Senior Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) also had both his rounds counted towards Notre Dame’s team score with a first round 76 and a second round 74 for a 150 (six-over par) and a share of 40th place. His day at the Spring Hill Golf Club included six birdies.
Sophomore Max Scodro (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame Prep (Ariz.)) rounded out the Irish contingent with a 151 (seven-over par). He turned in a first round 74, which counted towards the team score, and followed with a second round 77.
The Irish will try and close the gap with the five teams ahead of them when the final round of play gets underway on Monday, September 14. Final round action will begin at 8 a.m. (CT) when Alan-Lee tees off and Notre Dame’s tee times will run through 9:00 a.m. (CT) when Sandman gets his third round underway. Live hole-by-hole scoring will be available through Golfstat. To access the site go to http://www.golfstatresults.com and click on the results tab. A recap will be posted on und.com.
Gopher Invitational – Spring Hill Golf Club, Par 72 – 7,020 Yards
-Six Team Scores (36-hole totals): 1. SMU (-1/575); t2. Arkansas (+2/577); t2. Minnesota (+2/577); 4. Charlotte (+3/579); 5. UNC-Wilmington (+10/586); 6. Notre Dame (+12/588).
Top-Five Golfers (36-hole scores): 1. Ben Pisani (Minnesota/136); 2. Kelly Kraft (SMU/137); t3. Jordan Elsen (Wisconsin/142); t3. Corey Nagy (Charlotte/142); t5. Josh Sandman (Notre Dame/143); Ethan Tracy (Arkansas/143).
Notre Dame Scores (36-hole totals): t5. Josh Sandman (77-66-143); t20. Connor Alan-Lee (73-74-147); t35. Jeff Chen (77-72-149); t35. Carl Santos-Ocampo (75-74-149); t40. Doug Fortner (76-74-150); t43. Max Scodro (74-77-151).
— ND —