Oct. 19, 1999
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 19th-ranked Notre Dame men’s golf team.-led by surging sophomore Steve Ratay (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey HS)-wrapped up the most successful fall season in the program’s history by rallying for the team’s third first-place finish in four events, following Tuesday’s final round of action at the Louisville Intercollegiate.
Notre Dame headed into the second and final round in fifth place, seven shots behind leader Moorhead State, but the Irish used a final-round score of 292 in the play-five, count-four format to edge hard-charging Western Kentucky by two strokes, 593 to 595. Notre Dame’s final-round score was the best round in the 18-team tournament, propelling the Irish well ahead of Moorhead (602), Ohio University (602) and host Louisville (603).
The current Irish squad becomes the first in the program’s history to finish first in three events during the same academic year (much less the same semester), with five previous teams posting a pair of first-place finishes (1985-96, ’88-’89, ’95-’96, ’96-’97 and ’97-’98). In fact, no previous Irish teams have won more than one tournament that featured 11-plus teams.
The strong fall provides a huge boost to Notre Dame’s hopes for securing the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Championship since 1966. The Irish were in the running for NCAA bids during each of the past two seasons, but had to rally in the spring after sub-par fall performances.
Ratay-who is ranked 56th in the nation and has shot par or better in six of his last eight rounds-fired a one-under 71 on Tuesday at the 6,850-yard Persimmon Ridge Golf Club to move from fifth place to a runner-up finish in the 90-player field, at 143. Western Kentucky’s Eric Mason (73-69/142) rallied to edge Ratay by a single stroke.
Notre Dame’s strong second round included a 72 from senior captain Todd Vernon, a 74 from his classmate Jeff Connell and a 75 from junior Adam Anderson, with the Irish having the luxury of throwing out a 76 from junior Alex Kent.
Anderson-who played in no intercollegiate tournaments during this first two years at Notre Dame-again provided the margin of victory from his fifth-man position. His first-round 77 made up for Vernon’s uncharacteristic 79 while Anderson’s second-round 75 saved the Irish from counting Kent’s 76 (Anderson’s two rounds in effect saved the Irish three shots to the final team score). Anderson played a similar role in Notre Dame’s season-opening win at Air Force, when his first two rounds (72-75) saved the team a total of nine strokes (the Irish beat Wyoming by eight strokes in that event).
The depth of Notre Dame’s starting five at Louisville was evidenced by the fact that all the Irish golfers finished in the top 26, with Kent (74-76/150) tying for 14th while Vernon tied for 20th (79-72/151). Connell (78-74) and Anderson (77-75) were among nine golfers that tied for 26th at 152.
Ratay (71.73) and Vernon (72.82) are well on pace to break the Notre Dame record for season stroke average, set by Joe Grace in 1955-56 (73.88). Kent (74.09) joins Ratay and Vernon in combining for the three best individual season averages at Notre Dame in the last 34 years (Charles Thurn ranks second all-time, with a 73.88 in 1955-56).
TEAM NOTES: Prior to the first-place showing at Louisville, Notre Dame was ranked fourth in District IV and 19th in the nation, based on the computerized Golfstat rankings that help determine NCAA Championship participants … Notre Dame has defeated every district rival it has faced this fall, with the exception of Michigan (1-1-0, with the Irish owning a six-stroke advantage), Marshall (2-1-0, with a 28-stroke cushion) and Miami of Ohio (1-0-1, with the Irish up 17 strokes) … Notre Dame’s strong fall included winning the 24-team Air Force Invitational, tying for first at the 16-team Legends of Indiana Intercollegiate and placing third at the 19-team Xavier Invitational … as a team, Notre Dame is averaging an impressive four-man score of 291.91 (72.98 per counted score), well on pace to best the team record of 298.33 set in 1997-98 … the top three teams in District IV include Kent (6th in the nation), Northwestern (11th) and Ohio State (15th) … a total of 31 golfers from District IV-six teams and one additional individual-will advance to the NCAA Central Regional (based on 1999 criteria), which will be held May 18-20, 2000, at Victoria (Texas) Country Club.
RATAY NOTES: Prior to his runner-up finish at Louisville, Ratay-who averaged just 78.35 strokes over 17 rounds as Notre Dame’s fifth-man last spring-was ranked sixth in the district and 56th in the nation according to the Golfstat rankings … Ratay has played all 11 rounds for the Irish this fall (eight at par-72, three at par-71) and stands at even-par for the entire fall (789 total strokes), with a 71.73 stroke average … he has shot 73 or lower in 10 of his 11 rounds, including three sub-par and four even-par rounds … Ratay’s fall has included an 11th-place finish at Air Force (70-72-77/219), a first-place showing at 80-players Legends of Indiana (71-70-73/214) and a fifth-place finish at Xavier (71-70-72/213) … he is just the third Notre Dame golfer to finish first or second at two tournaments during the same semester and the first to do so at two full intercollegiate tournaments (i.e. not conference tournaments) … Chris Dayton won the 35-player MCC Championship and the 90-player Indiana Intercollegiate in the fall of 1991 … Willie Kent tied for first at the 66-player Iowa Intercollegiate before finishing second at the 45-player BIG EAST Championship in the fall of 1998 … Ratay’s 143 ties for the 11th-best 36-hole score in team history (tied for fourth-best in the 1990s).
INDIVIDUAL NOTES: Vernon finished second on the squad with a 72.82 fall stroke average, followed by Kent (74.09), Connell (75.33) and Anderson (75.73) … the ’99 team balance has seen Ratay count to the team score in all 11 fall rounds, followed by Vernon (10), Kent (8), Anderson (8) and Connell (7, of 10) … Vernon’s career stroke average remains at 75.48, fifth-best in recorded team history (since 1954) … Connell remains sixth on that list, at 75.89 … Vernon has counted to the Irish four-man score in 76 of 88 career rounds-third-most at Notre Dame during the 1990s (’98 grad Bryan Weeks counted in 80 rounds, ’97 grad Brian Donohoe in 77) … Connell has counted in 62 of 74 career rounds, good for seventh at Notre Dame in the ’90s.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (36 holes): 1. Notre Dame 301-292/593, 2. Western Kentucky 300-295/595, 3. Moorhead State 294-308/602, Ohio University 298-304/602, 5. Louisville 306-297/603, 6. Cincinnati 300-305/605, 7. Kentucky 304-305/609, 8. Illinois 307-304/611, 9. Marquette 307-306/613, Ball State 307-306/613, 11. Marshall 306-310/616, 12. Saint Louis 307-310/617, 13. Wisconsin 321-297/618, 14. Eastern Kentucky 314-306/620, 15. Akron 310-311/621, 16. Youngstown State 314-310/624, 17. Murray State 320-306/626, 18. DePaul 303-326/629.
TOP INDIVIDUALS (of 90): 1. Eric Mason (WKY) 73-69/142, 2. Steve Ratay (ND) 72-71/143, 3. Wes Furnish (KY) 69-75/144, 4. Mark Wentz (MARQ) 73-73/146, 5. Eric Herberth (OHIO) 74-73/147, Danny Baron (LOU) 76-71/147, Joe Hill (OHIO) 75-72/147, 8. Sam O’Dell (MARS) 72-76/148, 9. Ben Hensley (MOOR) 71-78/149, Matt Hermann (MOOR) 74-75/149, Ryan Chattin (BSU) 77-72/149, John Mullendore (WKY) 74-75/149, Kyle Lopez (SLU) 74-75/149.
OTHER NOTRE DAME SCORES: 14. Alex Kent 74-76/150, 18. Todd Vernon 79-72/151, 26. Jeff Connell 78-74/152, 26. Adam Anderson 77-75/152.