Feb. 18, 2007
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The Notre Dame men’s golf team teed off the spring portion of its 2006-07 season Sunday at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., firing an opening-round 311 (+23) that is good for a 10th-place tie in the high-powered 15-team field. Playing in cool, windy conditions on the difficult Sawgrass Golf Club/Oceanside East-West Course (par 72/6,985 yards), the Irish find themselves in the middle of a tightly-bunched leaderboard, where a mere 12 strokes separate first-place (and fifth-ranked) Alabama from 15th-place Central Florida. No less than 10 of the nation’s top 50 teams (according to Golfweek) are competing in this week’s tournament, which is being hosted by North Florida.
Senior All-America candidate Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) is Notre Dame’s top scorer thus far, tying for 16th place in the 78-man field at four-over par 76 through one round. Senior co-captain Adam Gifford (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) is tied for 23rd place with a five-over par 77, with junior Eddie Peckels (Pinehurst, N.C./Pope John Paul II (Fla.)) one stroke further back in a 36th-place deadlock. Sophomore Josh Sandman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) and freshman Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) rounded out the Irish scoring in a tie for 53rd place at eight-over par 80. UCLA’s Kevin Chappell and Pepperdine’s Shane Mason share the overnight lead at even-par 72.
Notre Dame will return to the course Monday beginning at 9:12 a.m. (ET) for the second round of the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational, with Notre Dame’s starting five scheduled to go off at nine-minute intervals from the 10th tee. Live in-progress scoring for the tournament is available through the Golfstat web site, and the latest results will be posted right here on the official Notre Dame athletics web site upon completion of the day’s action. Fans also can obtain updates on the Irish at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational through the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000) and the Irish ALERT text message system (click here for more details).
— ND —
John Hayt Collegiate Invitational
Feb. 18, 2007 — Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Sawgrass Golf Club/Oceanside East-West Course (par 72/6,985 yards)
TEAM RESULTS (18-hole totals): 1. Alabama 303; 2. Vanderbilt 304; 3. Georgia State 305; 4. (tie) Charlotte and Augusta State 307; 6. (tie) North Florida, UCLA and Coastal Carolina 309; 9. LSU 310; 10. (tie) NOTRE DAME, South Carolina and Pepperdine 311; 13. UAB 312; 14. Tennessee 313; 15. UCF 315.
TOP FOUR INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME FINISHERS (of 78): 1. Kevin Chappell (UCLA) and Shane Mason (Pepperdine) 72; 3. (tie) Jon Curran (Vanderbilt) and Dustin Johnson (Coastal Carolina) 73; 16. (tie) Cole Isban (Notre Dame) 76; 23. (tie) Adam Gifford (Notre Dame) 77; 36. (tie) Eddie Peckels (Notre Dame) 78; 53. (tie) Josh Sandman (Notre Dame) and Doug Fortner (Notre Dame) 80.