Nov. 6, 2006
SAN MARTIN, Calif. – Playing in perhaps its strongest tournament of the fall season, the Notre Dame men’s golf team presently is tied for 11th place late in the second round of the CordeValle Collegiate, which opened Monday at the CordeValle Golf Club (par 72/7,119 yards) in San Martin, Calif. The Irish registered an opening-round 292 (+4), and were five-under par as they played the back nine in round two when play was halted due to darkness. At the time of the stoppage, Notre Dame was one-under par for the tournament, sharing 11th place with Pepperdine.
A total of five top-10 squads are among the 17-team field at the CordeValle Collegiate, with No. 9 Stanford currently atop the leaderboard at 22-under par late in the second round. Notre Dame is four shots ahead of No. 3 UCLA, which has completed 36 holes at 579 (+3), and the Irish are six strokes in front of 22nd-ranked TCU, which has two holes to play in its second round.
Sophomore Josh Sandman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) is Notre Dame’s individual leader to this point at five-under par, carding a 69 (-3) in the morning before logging a two-under par total through 12 holes in the afternoon. At present, he is tied for 10th place, four shots back of overnight leader Zack Miller of Stanford, who is through two rounds at 135 (-9). Sandman collected seven birdies in his opening round and has another five skins in the second round to this point.
Despite playing at less than 100 percent due to an injury, senior All-America candidate Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) has battled his way back to even par through 14 holes in his second round, erasing a 76 in the opening round with a four-under par (six birdies, two bogeys) on his second circuit. Isban and junior Eddie Peckels (Pinehurst, N.C./Pope John Paul II (Fla.)) are among a large group tied for 33rd place when play was suspended. Peckels shot a first-round 73, but is one-under through 16 holes in his second round.
Meanwhile, senior Adam Gifford (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth) is four-over par for the tournament and tied for 65th place, going out in the morning with a 74 (+2) and holding a similar score after 12 holes on his second lap. Junior Greg Rodgers (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul’s School) is the other Irish golfer competing this week, currently at 11-over par with two holes to go in his second round. Rodgers is in 86th place, opening with a 78 (+6) and then going five-over par to this point in round two, despite ringing up an eagle on the par-5, 530-yard 18th hole at CordeValle (the only eagle registered on that hole in the tournament thus far).
The Irish will return to the course on Tuesday beginning at 7 a.m. PT (10 a.m. ET in South Bend) to conclude the second round of the CordeValle Collegiate via a shotgun start. Teams then will be re-seeded and will begin the final round from the No. 1 and No. 10 holes via pre-assigned tee times. Live in-progress scoring for the tournament is available through the Golfstat web site, and final results will be posted here on the official Notre Dame athletics web site upon completion of the day’s action. Fans also can obtain updates on the Irish at CordeValle Collegiate through the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000) and the Irish ALERT text message system (click here for more information).
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