April 24, 2006
DADE CITY, Fla. – On a day when the only thing hotter than the weather was the scoring, Notre Dame finds itself in third place at six-under par 570 (281-289) following Monday’s first two rounds of action at the 2006 BIG EAST Conference Men’s Golf Championship, being contested at the Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club/South Course (par 72/7,031 yards) in Dade City, Fla. Among the four school records the Irish set or tied on Monday was a new school postseason mark with their opening-round 281 (also the third-lowest round in school history), and a new Notre Dame standard with its 36-hole score, obliterating the old standard by 11 strokes (581, set at the 1968 Notre Dame Invitational and tied in last year’s dual match vs. TCU).
The Irish will enter Tuesday’s final rounds 12 strokes back of tournament leader Louisville (558, -18) and seven behind Marquette (563, -13). The Cardinals and Golden Eagles looked sharp in their BIG EAST Championship debuts, as the Conference USA transplants took advantage of their course knowledge (the past two C-USA Championships were played at Lake Jovita) to move to the front of the 12-team field. Prior to this season, five of the last six BIG EAST tourneys had been held in South Bend at the Warren Golf Course.
The two-time defending conference champion, Notre Dame had never shot better than 289 in any of its previous 10 BIG EAST Championship appearances coming into this week’s event, but the Irish hit that mark in both of Monday’s rounds, which were played in hot and humid conditions that tested each one of the 60 players in the tournament field. As it turned out, the weather and wide fairways at Lake Jovita proved to be highly conducive to low scores, with Notre Dame’s two-round mark of 570 ending up 15 strokes better than the previous Irish 36-hole record at the conference tournament (585 in 2004).
Freshman Josh Sandman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) continues his late-season surge, firing a team-best three-under par 141 (70-71) and is among six golfers tied for fourth place. Sandman’s 141 also matches the Notre Dame 36-hole record at the BIG EAST Championship, originally set by Todd Vernon in 1997 at South Bend’s Blackthorn Golf Club. Sandman is nine strokes behind overnight leader Derek Fathauer of Louisville, who carded a pair of 66s en route to a tournament-record 132 (-12) and holds a three-shot edge on Marquette’s Joe Weber.
Junior tri-captain and two-time all-BIG EAST selection Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) is a shot back of Sandman in a 10th-place tie following a two-under par 142 (70-72). In six career rounds at the conference championship, Isban now has shot par or better three times and has a lifetime 73.17 stroke average in the event.
Senior tri-captains Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) and Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) used varying methods to arrive at the same location — a tie for 22nd place at two-over par 146. Baldwin came out of the gate blazing with a three-under par 69, which tied for the second-lowest round ever recorded by an Irish golfer at the BIG EAST Championship. However, he fired a second-round 77 to slip back in the pack and hamper his quest to repeat as conference medalist. Meanwhile, Gustafson shot a 75 (+3) in the morning, and was two-over par through eight holes of his second round before charging back with three birdies and logging a one-under 71.
Senior Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews) was the wild card for Notre Dame coming into the BIG EAST Championship, having not played in a tournament this year due to neck and shoulder injuries. Yet, he confidently posted an even-par 72 in the opening round before an up-and-down 75 (+3) in a second circuit which featured six birdies, five bogeys and two double bogeys. Balderston is in a five-way tie for 25th place with 18 holes remaining.
Notre Dame, which has finished among the top three in nine of the 10 BIG EAST Championships it has played to date, will be paired with Louisville and Marquette for Tuesday’s final round, which gets underway at 8:50 a.m. (ET) from the No. 1 tee at Lake Jovita. Regular in-progress updates will be filed live from the course on the Irish Sports Hotline (574-631-3000; option #9), while scores will be updated every nine holes on the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com). A final recap will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com) upon completion of the day’s action.
— ND —
BIG EAST Conference Championship
April 24, 2006 • Dade City, Fla.
Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club/South Course (par 72/7,031 yards)
TEAM SCORES (36-hole totals): 1. Louisville 558 (279-279); 2. Marquette 563 (285-278); 3. NOTRE DAME 570 (281-289); 4. South Florida 573 (289-284); 5. Villanova 586 (297-289); 6. St. John’s 589 (301-288); 7. (tie) DePaul 594 (297-297) and Connecticut 594 (308-286); 9. Cincinnati 595 (300-295); 10. (tie) Rutgers 599 (298-301) and Georgetown 599 (302-297); 12. Seton Hall 610 (311-299).
TOP FOUR INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME GOLFERS (of 60): 1. Derek Fathauer (Louisville) 132 (66-66); 2. Joe Weber (Marquette) 135 (67-68); 3. Keegan Bradley (St. John’s) 140 (71-69); 4. (tie) Josh Sandman (Notre Dame) 141 (70-71); 10. (tie) Cole Isban (Notre Dame) 142 (70-72); 22. (tie) Mark Baldwin (Notre Dame) 146 (69-77) and Scott Gustafson (Notre Dame) 146 (75-71); 25. (tie) Tommy Balderston (Notre Dame) 147 (72-75).