Oct. 7, 2003
GLENVIEW, Ill. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team wound up in a tie for 15th place at the Windon Memorial Classic which concluded Tuesday at the par-72, 7,058-yard North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill., just north of Chicago. The tournament, which was hosted by Northwestern University, featured eight of the top 50 teams in the nation, according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index rankings, led by No. 10 Minnesota and No. 25 California.
The Irish fired a final-round 302 on Tuesday, highlighted by an even-par 72 from sophomore Scott Gustafson (Rochester, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) and a one-over par 73 from freshman Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS). Notre Dame finished the tournament with a score of 909, tying them with SMU for 15th place. Minnesota won the event with a five-under par 859 team score, nine shots clear of Purdue and California.
Individually, the Irish were strong in their top two positions. Gustafson was the top finisher for Notre Dame, placing in a tie for 11th overall with a career-low score of one-over par 217 (72-73-72). His previous best 54-hole total was 219, which he set at the 2002 Kansas Invitational. Gustafson’s score in relation to par also was the best of his career. Meanwhile, Isban bounced back from a rocky first round with matching 73s in the final two circuits and tied for 28th place at 223 (77-73-73).
A trio of sophomores completed the Irish lineup at the Windon Classic. Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews HS) carded a three-round score of 235 (77-78-80) for a 78th-place finish, while Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) tied for 80th place with a 236 (75-82-79). Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) rounded out the Notre Dame scoring in 84th place at 238 (78-82-78). All three men were competing in their first tournament of the 2003-04 season.
Notre Dame returns to the links next Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 13-14, when it heads to McKinney, Texas, for the SMU/Stonebridge Invitational. The Irish will be looking to improve on last year’s fifth-place finish at the event, which is being held at the par-72, 7,257-yard Stonebridge Country Club.
– ND –
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. Minnesota 859 (283-288-288); 2. (tie) Purdue 868 (289-288-291) and California 868 (295-296-277); 4. Illinois 871 (289-285-297); 5. Northwestern 878 (294-285-299); 6. LSU 880 (288-292-300); 7. Toledo 883 (289-290-304); 8. Oklahoma State 886 (297-294-295); 9. Kent State 890 (295-289-306); 10. North Florida 892 (297-295-300); 11. Stanford 895 (298-291-306); 12. (tie) Michigan State 896 (292-303-301) and Arizona 896 (292-298-306); 14. UC Davis 899 (303-299-297); 15. (tie) NOTRE DAME 909 (301-306-302) and SMU 909 (311-306-292); 16. Rice 917 (312-299-306).
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (of 87): 1. Peter Richardson (Purdue) 206 (67-68-71); 2. (tie) Joe Affrunti (Illinois) 211 (73-66-72), Casey Strunk (Northwestern) 211 (73-67-71) and Justin Smith (Minnesota) 211 (69-71-71); 5. Heath West (LSU) 213 (70-70-73); 6. Michael Young (North Florida) 214 (71-71-72); 7. (tie) Dustin Cone (Purdue) 215 (75-70-70) and Ben Greve (Minnesota) 215 (70-73-72); 9. (tie) John Limanti (North Florida) 216 (75-70-71) and Peter Tomasulo (California) 216 (72-77-67).
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 87): 11. (tie) Scott Gustafson 217 (72-73-72); 28. (tie) Cole Isban 223 (77-73-73); 78. (tie) Tommy Balderston 235 (77-78-80); 80. (tie) Eric Deutsch 236 (75-82-79); 84. (tie) Mark Baldwin 238 (78-82-78).