March 27, 2009
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Freshmen Tom Usher (Bradford, England/Guiseley School) and Max Scodro (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame Prep (Ariz.)) shot matching scores of two-over par 73, helping the Notre Dame men’s golf team into a tie for eighth place after Friday’s opening round at the inaugural FAU Spring Break Championship in Delray Beach, Fla. The Irish carded a score of 294 (+10) in the first round and find themselves tied with Memphis, 17 shots back of tournament leader (and nationally-ranked) Illinois in the 14-team event, which is being played at the Gleneagles Country Club/Legends Course (par 71/6,722 yards).
Making his spring debut, Usher posted his second-lowest round of his rookie season (even with a bogey on his final hole), while Scodro birdied two of his final four holes to match his best score of the spring, originally set in the second round at the Palmas del Mar Intercollegiate. As a team, Notre Dame fashioned its second-lowest opening round of the season, topped only by a 288 (+4) in the first round of the Saint Mary’s (Calif.) Invitational back on Sept. 29.
The Irish are one of three BIG EAST Conference teams in this weekend’s tournament, with Marquette currently in 11th place (298/+14) and St. John’s in 14th place (310/+26). Cam Burke of Eastern Michigan holds the early lead on the 84-man individual ladder after shooting a seven-under par 64 on Friday.
Sophomore Dustin Zhang (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) and junior Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) are one shot behind their freshman teammates in a tie for 32nd place at three-over par 74. Zhang steadied himself nicely after a bogey-triple bogey start on his second and third holes, playing the remaining 15 holes in one-under par. Meanwhile, Fortner was at one-over par through 14 holes before consecutive bogeys took some of the steam out of what had been a solid back nine.
Junior Carl Santos-Ocampo (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) also is making his spring debut, as well as a return to his home state. The native Floridian is tied for 42nd place after the first round with a four-under par 75 under his belt.
Notre Dame gets back in the swing of things on Saturday with the second round of the FAU Spring Break Championship, beginning at 11:30 a.m. (ET) from the first tee of the Legends Course at Gleneagles Country Club. Live scoring is available for the tournament through the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com), while complete results will be available at the conclusion of the day’s action on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com) and the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000).
— ND —
FAU Spring Break Championship
March 27, 2009
Delray Beach, Fla.
Gleneagles Country Club/Legends Course
Par 71/6,722 yards
18-HOLE TEAM RESULTS: 1. Illinois 277; 2. Ohio State 280; 3. Eastern Michigan 283; 4. Northwestern 286; 5. Michigan 287; 6. (tie) Iowa and Wisconsin 291; 8. (tie) NOTRE DAME 294 and Memphis 294; 10. Missouri 297; 11. Marquette 298; 12. Florida Atlantic 299; 13. Northern Illinois 306; 14. St. John’s 310.
TOP 4 INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME GOLFERS (of 84): 1. Cam Burke (EMU) 64; 2. Scott Langley (ILL) 65; 3. (tie) Vaughn Snyder (OSU) and Luke Guthrie (ILL) 66; 26. (tie) Tom Usher (ND) and Max Scodro (ND) 73; 32. (tie) Dustin Zhang (ND) and Doug Fortner (ND) 74; 42. (tie) Carl Santos-Ocampo (ND) 75.