April 2, 2011
BATON ROUGE, La. – The University of Notre Dame men’s golf team sits in a tie for seventh place (out of 12 teams) at 31-over par (607) after the first two rounds of the LSU National Invitational played Saturday at the University Club. Paul McNamara III (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) paced the Irish with a 36-hole total of 145 (+4).
Michigan leads the field after the first 36 holes with a two-round score of 587 (+11), followed by Iowa (+12, 588) and host LSU (+13, 589) in second and third, respectively. Individually, Chattanooga’s Stephan Jaeger leads the 66-member field at seven-under par (137).
McNamara III posted the best Irish score in each of the first two rounds, carding a 74 (+2) in the first round before cracking par for a one under, 71, in the second round. The opening 18 holes saw him record birdies on the first and 17th holes for his lone red numbers of the round. In the second round, the sophomore registered four birdies with three of those coming on the back nine, including back-to-back on holes 11 and 12. He is alone in seventh place after day one.
Chris Walker (The Woodlands, Texas) bounced back from a tough opening round that saw him post a 79 (+7) to match McNamara III with a one-under par (71) in the second round. After recording only one birdie in the opening 18 holes, the junior notched three in his second round, all of which came on par 4s. Walker’s 150 (+6) has him in a share of 22nd after the first day.
Max Scodro (Chicago, Ill.) sits third amongst the Irish lineup after putting together an opening day 154 (+10). He opened the tournament with a 75 (+3) before posting a second round 79 (+7). The junior recorded five birdies on the day, but struggled with bogeys in his second 18 holes, carding seven to go along with a double bogey on his final hole of the day. Scodro is tied for 35th in the 66-person field.
After starting his tournament with an opening round 85 (+13), freshman Niall Platt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) bounced back in the second round to post a 75 (+3). Platt was hampered by eight bogeys, a double bogey and a quadruple bogey in his opening 18 holes, but trimmed that number to only four bogeys along with a birdie in the second round to finish the day with a 36-hole score of 160 (+16). He shares 51st place in the field.
Junior Tom Usher (Bradford, England) struggled to find his rhythm during his first day, finishing with a 171 (+27), good for 63rd place. The lone bright spot of his day came on the second hole of his second round when he recorded his only birdie of the day at the 554-yard par 5.
The Irish return to the course for the final 18 holes, starting on hole 10, at approximately 9:00 a.m. (ET) on Sunday as they look to make a move up the leaderboard. Be sure to check back with und.com for a complete recap of the final round of action.
LSU National Invitational - University Club, Par 72 - 7,440 Yards
Top-Five Team Scores (36-hole totals):1. Michigan 587 +112. Iowa 588 +123. LSU 589 +134. Chattanooga 595 +195. VCU 602 +26
Top-Five Golfers (36-hole totals):1. Stephan Jaeger, Chattanooga 137 -72. Alexander Sitompul, Michigan 141 -3T3. Vince India, Iowa 142 -2T3. John Peterson, LSU 142 -25. T.J. Howe, Penn State 143 -1
Notre Dame Scores (36-hole totals):7. Paul McNamara III 145 +1T22. Chris Walker 150 +6T35. Max Scodro 154 +10T51. Niall Platt 160 +1663. Tom Usher 171 +27