Sept. 23, 2002
Lawrence, Kan. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team finished the first 36 holes of play at the Kansas Invitational in 13th-place after rounds of 303 and 304 for a 607 total. The Irish will go into Tuesday’s final round of play 43 strokes behind tournament leader Baylor. The Bears are 12-under par with a 564 total and lead second-place Wichita State (290-289-579) by 15 strokes.
Baylor University was 12-under par on the par 72, 6,950-yard Alvamar Golf Club, the home course of the University of Kansas. The Jayhawks are in third-place, one stroke behind Wichita State after rounds of 293 and 287 for a 580 total. Iowa State enters the final round of play in fourth-place after shooting back-to-back rounds of 293 for a 36-hole mark of 586. North Texas State (288-303) rounds out the top five with a 591 mark after the first day of play.
Individually, Baylor’s Ryan Baca owns a two-stroke lead over North Texas State’s Zach Atkinson. Baca fired a pair of four-under par 68’s on the way to an eight-under par total of 136. Atkinson opened with a five-under par 67 and followed with a 71 for a six-under par 138.
Pete Krsnich of Kansas, playing as an individual participant, was two-over par after the opening round before firing the best round of the tournament with a 66 for his 140 total. Three golfers are tied for fourth with two-under par totals of 142.
For the Irish, Scott Gustafson (Fr., Eden Prairie, Minn.), playing in just his second collegiate tournament started the day with a 75, but rebounded with a three-under par 69 in the second-round for an even-par 144. Gustafson’s 69 was the third-best round of the afternoon and the best round of the young season for an Irish golfer.
Following Gustafson, one of four freshmen in the Notre Dame lineup, were fellow freshmen Eric Deutsch (Fr., Rochester, Minn.) and Tommy Balderston (Fr., Boca Raton, Fla.) who were tied for 59th with 10-over par totals of 154. Deutsch fired rounds of 76 and 78 while Balderston opened with a 75 and finished with a 79 in the afternoon round.
Junior Gavin Ferlic (South Bend, Ind.), playing in his first tournament of the year, is one stroke behind Deutsch and Balderston with a 36-hole total of 155. Ferlic is tied for 62nd after rounds of 77 and 78. Freshman Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H.) rounded out the Irish contingent in 73rd-place with rounds of 77 and 81 for a 14-over par total of 158.
The final round of play of the Kansas Invitational will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning at the Alvamar Golf Club.
TEAM RESULTS (36 holes): 1. Baylor 285-279-564; 2. Wichita State 290-289-579; 3. Kansas 293-287-580; 4. Iowa State 293-293-586; 5. North Texas State 288-303-591; 6. S.W. Missouri State 305-289-594; t7. Northern Iowa 302-293-595; Drake 298-297-595; 9. Missouri 296-301-597; 10. Oral Roberts 299-302-601; t11. Univ. Missouri-Kansas City 305-301-606; Illinois State 308-298-606; 13. Notre Dame 303-304-607; 14. Nebraska 309-304-613.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (of 80): 1. Ryan Baca (Baylor) 68-68-136; 2. Zach Atkinson (No. Texas) 67-71-138; 3. Pete Krsnich (Kansas) 74-66-140; t4. Chris Marshall (Kansas) 71-71-142; Will Doughtie (Baylor) 71-71-142; Jamie McLeary (Baylor) 72-70-142; 7. Mike Lewis (No. Iowa) 74-69-143; t8. Scott Gustafson (Notre Dame) 75-69-144; Adam Meyer (Baylor) 74-70-144; Kevin Oswald (Iowa State) 72-72-144; Cory Cooper (Wichita State) 72-72-144; Ryan Rainer (Kansas) 70-74-144.
NOTRE DAME PLAYERS (of 80): t8. Scott Gustafson 75-69-144; t59. Eric Deutsch 76-78-154; Tommy Balderston 75-79-144; t62. Gavin Ferlic 77-78-155; t73. Mark Baldwin 77-81-158.