Sept. 30, 2001
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team closed out its weekend at Ann Arbor, Mich., with an eighth-place finish at the Wolverine Invitational on Sunday afternoon. The Irish turned in back-to-back 297’s in the 36-hole tournament for a 594 total to finish 20 strokes behind tournament winner, Baylor (296-278-574) at the par 71, 6,700-yard University of Michigan golf course.
Highlighting the weekend for the Irish was the play of junior golfer Brandon Lunke (San Antonio, Tex.) who fired a two-under par 69 on Friday and followed it with a two-over par 73 on Sunday for a 142 total. Lunke finished tied for third, his best career-finish at Notre Dame, just two strokes behind Baylor’s Ryan Baca (72-68-140) and Ball State’s Mike Gant (70-70-140). Baca won the tournament via a scorecard tiebreaker as he shot a 68 in his final round compared to Gant’s 70.
Besides Lunke’s fine tournament finish, the Irish also got a hole-in-one from freshman Steve Colnitis (Baldwin, Md.) in his final round of 72. Colnitis delivered his ace on the par 3, 159-yard eighth hole using a five iron. His tee shot hit about three yards from the hole and rolled in for the second hole-in-one for his career. He finished 36th overall with a 149 (77-72).
Baylor won the team title coming from 11 strokes down to win by five strokes with a six-over par 574 on rounds of 296-278. Minnesota, the defending champion, was second with a 579 total on rounds of 285-294. Indiana finished third (294-292-586), Michigan State was fourth with a 587 (292-295) and Northwestern rounded out the top five with a 591 total (297-294).
Individually, Lunke was one of four players to finish behind Baca and Gant in a third-place and one of seven players in the tournament to finish at even-par or better. He was joined at even par 142 by West Florida’s Bryan Clarke (72-70), Michigan State’s Eric Jorgenson (69-73) and Northwestern’s Tom Johnson (69-73).
For the Irish, senior Steve Ratay (Arlington Heights, Ill.) finished in a tie for 27th with a six-over par 148 on rounds of 74 and 74. Colnitis tied for 30th, freshman Ryan Marshall (Marco Island, Fla.) tied for 76th with a 155 (77-78) and Chris Whitten (Sr., Rockford, Mich.) finished tied for 92nd after rounds of 78 and 79 for a 157 mark.
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (36-hole totals): 1. Baylor 296-278-574, 2. Minnesota 285-294-579, 3. Indiana 294-292-586, 4. Michigan State 292-295-587, 5. Northwestern 297-294-591, 6. Ball State 292-300-592, 7. Michigan 301-292-593, 8. Notre Dame 297-297-594, 9. West Florida 293-302-595, 10. Miami (OH) 304-292-596, 11. Xavier 304-294-598, tie 12. Louisville 307-294-601, Air Force 298-303-601, Iowa 301-300-601, 15. Eastern Michigan 307-295-602, 16. Akron 302-301-603, tie 17. Marshall 302-305-607, Wisconsin 302-305-607, Kentucky 308-299-607, 20. Western Kentucky 309-309-618.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (of 103): 1. Ryan Baca (Baylor) 72-68-140* 2. Mike Gant (Ball State) 70-70-140, tie 3. Brandon Lunke (Notre Dame) 69-73-142, Eric Jorgensen (Michigan State) 69-73-142, Bryan Clarke (West Florida) 72-70-142, Tom Johnson (Northwestern) 69-73-142, 7. Will Doughtie (Baylor) 75-68-142, Simon Nash (Minnesota) 71-72-143, 9. Six Golfers tied with 144.
NOTRE DAME PLAYERS (of 103): 1. Lunke 69-73-142, t27. Steve Ratay 74-74-148, t36. Steve Colnitis 77-72-149, t76. Ryan Marshall 77-78-155, t92. Chris Whitten 78-79-157.