Oct. 23, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team will return to action this weekend at the UNCG Bridgestone Collegiate. The two-day tournament will take place at the Forest Oaks Country Club in Forest Oaks, N.C. on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24-25. In all, 15 teams will be competing for the crown with 12 of those teams currently ranked in the top 100 of the Golfstat rankings. The opening day of competition will feature 36 holes of golf, with the concluding 18 holes being played on Sunday.
“We’re geared up and ready to play,” Irish head coach Jim Kubinski said about returning to action this weekend. “We’ve gotten better with each event culminating with our great win at home a couple weeks ago. That event showed what we can do, especially in defeating three teams [Arkansas, Iowa and Ohio State] who played at the NCAA Finals just 4 months prior. We struggled out at PGA West but I’ll take responsibility there. We just invested too much in winning and traveling on the heels of it. In spite of our showing, I was still extremely proud of our guys since none of them made any excuses and all kept their heads held high throughout. That’s a championship sign, to me and I am looking for a big bounce back this weekend. We feel like we’ll set our bag down and get after it for 54 holes.”
THE COMPETITION:
The 2009 UNCG Bridgestone Collegiate will play host to a 15-team field, including 12 teams ranked in the top 100 of the Golfstat rankings and eight teams in the top 50. Teams competing in the tournament include (Golfstat rankings from 10.21.09 in parentheses): Augusta State (16), Duke (21), Georgia Tech (38), Michigan (51), Michigan State (104), Minnesota (52), North Carolina (42), Notre Dame (57), Purdue (95), Tennessee (12), Toledo (149), UNCG (110), VCU (37), Virginia (26), Virginia Tech (30).
FORMAT:
Each team’s lineup will be comprised of five golfers with the lowest four scores for each round counting towards the overall team score. The tournament will take place over two days (Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 24-25). The opening day will see the golfers play the first 36 holes with tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m. (ET) on a shotgun start. Sunday’s final round will have golfers teeing it up from the No. 1 and No. 10 tees at 8:30 a.m.
THE UNCG BRIDGESTONE COLLEGIATE:
For the third straight season, the Irish golf team will be competing in the UNCG Bridgestone Collegiate, a tournament that enters its fifth year of existence this season. Notre Dame earned a seventh-place finish in 2008-09 to mark its highest team finish at the event. Max Scodro has earned the highest individual finish, also coming in 2008-09, tying for first place with a score of 213 (-3).
Last season the tournament was won by Duke University, which shot a final round 289 to rally for a four-shot win over Michigan State. The Blue Devils overcame a five-shot deficit and overtook Michigan on the final day for the win. Individually, Scodro shared the tournament title with Michigan State’s Payne Gniewek.
LINEUP:
Jeff Chen returns to the Irish starting five for the first time since the Gopher Invitational. Josh Sandman, Connor Alan-Lee, Chris Walker and Max Scodro will round out the team.
Kubinski on the chosen lineup…
“Our lineup this week will be Josh, Max, Chris, Connor and Jeff. It’s a strong group. It’s also one with experience at Forest Oaks. Josh has worked out at Forest Oaks for years, including working the PGA TOUR Greater Greensboro when it was contested there. Josh had a great chance to win the event in ’07, sitting on a lead during the 2nd round. Of course Max is the defending co-champion. He broke out at the event last year, an outstanding accomplishment for a freshman. Connor and Chris also played some good stretches there, gaining experience all the while.”
RESULTS:
Live in-progress scoring will be available on the Internet at the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com), with complete tournament information also available at www.uncggolfcollegiate.com. Daily recaps will be posted on und.com.
LAST TIME OUT:
Notre Dame played in the difficult Prestige at PGA WEST. The Irish finished in 11th place (out of 14 teams), carding a final team score of 895 (+31). The Irish did conclude the tournament on the right foot, recording their best round of the tournament with a 294 (+6) on the final 18 holes. Max Scodro secured the highest finish by an individual at the event, tying for 26th place with a three-day score of 221 (+5).
NEXT UP:
Notre Dame will conclude the fall portion of its schedule when the team competes in The Match Play from Southern Pines, N.C. from Friday-Sunday, Oct. 30-Nov. 1. The three-day event will take place from the Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club.
— ND —