NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Tournament, Warren Golf Course and Notre Dame men’s golf program records all fell on Monday when the final round concluded at the Fighting Irish Classic. Notre Dame’s John Felitto carded a 54-hole program best 200 (-13) to finish in third place of the home tournament. Meanwhile, Notre Dame shot an 838 (-14) in a fifth place showing in a strong 15-team field.
Speaking of which, the University of Illinois took home the top prize at 44-under par, which shattered the previous Fighting Irish Classic record. In addition, Georgia Southern’s Steven Fisk took home the individual championship and set a tournament record by finishing 15-under par.
FELITTO AND THE TOP-THREE ROUNDUP
Felitto picked up right where he left off on Sunday, carding a birdie on his first hole (No. 10), before picking up two more on holes 15 and 17, thus finishing three under on the back nine. Felitto birdied the par-five fifth, reaching as low as four under, before three bogeys on the last four holes spoiled his round back to one under.
Felitto entered the clubhouse as the tournament leader at 13-under par and was only passed by North Carolina’s Ryan Gerard and individual champion Steven Fisk on the final few holes.
In fact, it took a Warren Golf Course record-setting day by Gerard with his 10-under par round to surge into second place. Then he was only outdone by the fact that Fisk sunk a 30-foot tournament-clinching putt on the 18th green.
“Pretty impressive and I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Notre Dame head coach John Handrigan said. “He struggled a little bit with a back injury earlier in the semester but he came back fighting and worked his butt off.”
FINAL ROUND
For the third straight round, Davis Chatfield posted the lowest score for the Irish, this time registering a 68 (-3). In fact, Chatfield shot in the 60s for all three rounds, finishing in a tie for 13th place with a 205 (-8).
Miguel Delgado tied for 21st in the tournament with a 210 (-3). The senior was the second and final Irish golfer in the lineup to shoot under par, carding a 70 (-1).
Hunter Ostrom and Kevin Conners rounded out today’s team scoring as each posted a 72 (+1). Ostrom finished in 42nd with a 214 (+1), while Conners tied for 57th with a 218 (+5).
Next, Andrew O’Leary tallied a 73 (+2) for the day, finishing in 34th place with a 213 (E).
Lastly, another highlight from today’s final round came from freshman Taichi Kho, who matched Chatfield’s 68 (-3), posting five birdies on the day.
“We had a solid week. We didn’t play poorly by any means. A fifth-place finish isn’t what we expected but there’s a lot of great teams in this 15-team field,” Coach Handrigan explained.
— ND —