Oct. 11, 2010
Firestone Invitational Team Leaderboard
Firestone Invitational Team Leaderboard With Individuals
Firestone Invitational Individual Leaderboard
AKRON, Ohio – The University of Notre Dame men’s golf team sits in a tie for first place at 12-under par (564) after Monday’s action of the Firestone Invitational at Firestone’s North Course in Akron, Ohio. Individually, freshman Niall Platt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) is second after posting an opening day 137 (-7).
The Irish started the day recording a four-under par 284 in the morning round, before finishing the afternoon session in red-hot fashion, shooting an eight-under par 280. The eight-under par round is the fifth-lowest to-par round in Irish program history, since the five-count-four scoring system was implemented in 1966. Indiana tied the Irish after posting a 15-under par second round (273) after entering the second 18 holes at three-over par (291).
Platt used an exceptional first round to grab the early lead in the field, carding an opening round 65 (-7). He posted eight birdies with only one bogey and with that tied the lowest to-par single round score (-7) in program history – previously shared by Doug Fortner and Mark Baldwin. In the second round, Platt fired a 72 (E) after registering three birdies, three bogies and twelve pars.
“Niall’s played in all three tournaments in his early Irish career so far and has played great in each of them,” Irish head coach Jim Kubinski says. “He does a great job of keeping the ball in play, taking advantage of his iron shots and then he’s just an amazing putter. He is actually one of the shorter hitters on our team, but it just shows that if you know how to hit your irons and read the greens, distance doesn’t always matter.”
Junior Max Scodro (Chicago, Ill.) ended the day second amongst the Irish rotation and tied for third overall, carding a two-round total of 139 (-5). In his opening round, Scodro registered two birdies to go along with a pair of bogies to finish with a 72 (E). He took advantage of the par-5’s in round two, recording a pair of eagles on holes five and 16. He also posted two birdies while taking only one bogey, finishing his second 18 holes at five-under par (67).
Junior Tom Usher (Bradford, England) sits in a tie for 11th place after carding an opening day 143 (-1). Usher’s opening round saw him record four birdies, including playing the back nine in 34 (-2) to finish with a one-under par 71. He played his second 18 holes at an even-par clip (72), registering three birdies and 13 pars.
Junior Chris Walker (San Antonio, Texas) also saw both of his scores count to the team total, finishing day one with a 145 (+1) and a tie for 21st place. In his opening round, Walker posted six birdies but was hurt by three double bogies on his way to a 76 (+4). He would eliminate the mistakes in the second round, notching three birdies along with an eagle and only two bogies to post a three-under par 69.
Senior Connor Alan-Lee (Solana Beach, Calif.) rounded out the Irish rotation, finishing the day in a tie for 62nd at 12-over par (156). He posted a score of 80 (+8) on his morning round, before rebounding with a 76 (+4) in afternoon play, including a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole.
Individually, Andrew Lane (Fairport, N.Y.) finished the day with a share of 65th place after recording a two-round total of 157 (+13). Lane, after shooting an opening round 78 (+6), posted a seven-over par 79 in the afternoon session. He carded four birdies on the day.
Final round action gets underway Tuesday with a split-tee start beginning at 8:15 a.m. (ET).
For live hole-by-hole scoring of the final round of the Firestone Invitational visit www.golfstat.com and be sure to check back with und.com for a recap of the closing round of action.
Firestone Invitational – Firestone North Course, Par 72 – 7,060 yards
Top-Five Team Scores (36-hole totals): t1. NOTRE DAME (-12/564); t1. Indiana (-12/564); 3. St. Mary’s (Calif.) (-1/575); 4. Eastern Michigan (+2/578); 5. New Mexico State (+3/579)
Top-Five Golfers (36-hole totals): 1. David Erdy (Indiana/135); 2. Niall Platt (NOTRE DAME/137); t3. Max Scodro (NOTRE DAME/139); t3. John Popeck (Maryland/139); 5. Jared Dalga (Eastern Michigan/140)
Notre Dame Scores (36-hole totals): 2. Niall Platt (65-72-137); t3. Max Scodro (72-67-139); t11. Tom Usher (71-72-143); t21. Chris Walker (76-69-145); t62. Connor Alan-Lee (80-76-156); t65. Andrew Lane (individual) (78-79-157)
–ND–