MADISON, Wis. – One tournament in the books and one tournament championship claimed for the Notre Dame men’s golf team to start the 2019-20 season. The Fighting Irish won the Badger Invitational by a blistering 14 strokes with a 22-under par (842).
In fact, the team’s 22-under par tied the program’s all-time lowest 54-hole score (achieved at both the 2017-18 Quail Valley Intercollegiate and 2005-06 Big East Championship).
“Feels great to be honest. Just really happy for these guys,” Notre Dame head coach John Handrigan said. “Coach Gump and I have pushed them hard over the past three years to compete at the highest level. There were a lot of good teams in this tournament – NCAA Championship caliber – so to win by that margin is impressive.”
Hunter Ostrom posted an impressive runner-up finish after carding an 11-under par – tying the second lowest 54-hole score in program history. It also marked the seventh top-three podium finish in Coach Handrigan’s tenure with the Irish.
“Hunter had a great summer. He worked really hard and we had great conversations with him that were tough,” Handrigan explained. “He’s taken his game to a new level. He’s playing smart golf, and when he does that, he can be in contention every week.”
ROUND THREE
The Irish posted the lowest round of the day with a 274. In addition, their 14-under par round marked the lowest in the Handrigan era and the second lowest all-time.
Both Ostrom and Davis Chatfield spearheaded the surge, each with a career best 66, which tied the second lowest round in program history. Ostrom finished four-under on the front-nine, which included an eagle on the par-four seventh.
Meanwhile, Chatfield played an unblemished round of no bogeys, and recorded four consecutive birdies on holes 13-16 to finish four-under on the back-nine. Chatfield’s final round run catapulted him into a tie for sixth place.
Furthermore, Andrew O’Leary and Palmer Jackson each contributed to today’s team score. O’Leary posted a clean front-nine before finishing two-under for the round, while Jackson tallied five birdies to ultimately end at even-par. Jackson tied for 21st in the tournament and O’Leary tied for 24th.
Davis Lamb carded a 73 (+1) on Tuesday to finish in a tie for 17th place. Individual competitor Tachi Kho also carded a 73 in the final round to move into a tie for 13th place.
UP NEXT
The Irish take a short bus trip over to Chicago to compete in the Windon Memorial Classic, hosted by Northwestern, from Sept. 16-17.
“We are going to take the day off tomorrow to get caught up on school work. Then we’ll be back at it on Thursday with little prep time before the next tournament. This team is hungry for more and looking forward to it.”
— ND —