Oct. 9, 2001
Mason, Ohio – The Notre Dame men’s golf team closed out play at the 10th annual Xavier Provident Invitational on Tuesday afternoon with a 16-over par 304. That gave the Irish a 54-hole total of 873 which was good for an eighth place tie with Ball State. Notre Dame finished 19 strokes behind tournament champion Western Kentucky as the Hilltoppers shot a two-over par 854 (286-276-292) for the tourney which was played at the par 71, 6,808-yard Grizzly Course at Kings Island.
Senior Steve Ratay (Arlington Heights, Ill.) turned in his best performance of the fall as he finished fourth overall with a three-under par total of 210. The Notre Dame captain closed out the final round with a two-over par 73 after Monday’s rounds of 66 and 71. His 210 put him eight strokes behind medalist Erik Herberth of Ohio University who shot an 11-under par 202 (67-64-71).
Xavier’s Miles Maillet was second with a 206 (67-69-70) and Western Kentucky’s Eric Mason finished third with a 207 (69-66-72) while Aaron Williams of Marshall finished a stroke behind Ratay with a 211 (67-70-74).
Xavier, the tournament host, also finished second in the team rankings, three strokes behind Western Kentucky with an 857 (280-287-290). Marshall was third with an 859 (281-283-295), Penn State was fourth with an 860 and Michigan moved to fifth with an 863 mark to round out the top five.
Individually for the Irish, freshman Ryan Marshall (Marco Island, Fla.), who started the final round tied for 10th slid to a tie for 17th with his final round of 77 which gave him a 54-hole total of four-over par 217 (71-69-77). Junior Brandon Lunke (San Antonio, Texas) tied for 71st after shooting an 84 on Tuesday. He finished the tournament with a 226 total after opening rounds of 72 and 70. Senior Kevin Ricci (Stuart, Fla.), playing in his first collegiate tournament, had the second-best round for the Irish with a three-over par 74 to finish with a 229 (75-80-74). Steve Colnitis (Fr., Baldwin, Md.) finished with a 230 total (74-76-80) to finish tied for 84th.
The Irish are off next week but return to action on Oct. 22-23 when they participate in the Tillinghast Invitational at the Quaker Ridge Golf Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54 holes): 1. Western Kentucky 286-276-292-854, 2. Xavier 280-287-290-857, 3. Marshall 281-283-295-859, 4. Penn State 293-283-284-860, 5. Michigan 285-284-294-863, 6. Ohio University 282-284-305-871, 7. Indiana 291-292-289-872, t8. Notre Dame 283-286-304-873, Ball State 286-281-306-873, t10. Wisconsin 292-288-298-878, Eastern Michigan 288-290-300-878, 12. Wright State 285-291-303-879, 13. Bowling Green 291-292-298-881, 14. Louisville 295-287-300-882, 15. Kentucky 295-288-301-884, 16. Miami (OH) 301-286-302-889, 17. Georgetown 298-293-301-892, 18. Akron 294-295-312-901, 19. Cincinnati 299-292-312-903.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (of 100): 1. Erik Herberth (Ohio) 67-64-71-202, 2. Miles Maillet (Xavier) 67-69-70-206, 3. Eric Mason (Western Kentucky) 69-66-72-207, 4. Steve Ratay (Notre Dame) 66-71-73-210, 5. Aaron Williams (Marshall) 67-70-74-211, 6. Dan Witt (Ball State) 68-70-75-214, 7. Nick Cook (Georgetown) 72-67-75-214, 8. Brandon Waldorp (Western Kentucky) 70-73-72-215, Neil Lykins (Cincinnati) 71-71-73-215, Mark Leon (Penn State) 75-69-71-215.
NOTRE DAME PLAYERS (of 100): 4. Steve Ratay 66-71-73-210, t17. Ryan Marshall 71-69-77-217, t71. Brandon Lunke 72-70-84-226, t81. Kevin Ricci 75-80-74-229, t84. Steve Colnitis 74-76-80-230.