March 29, 2009
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — After being poised to make a run into the upper half of the standings as the FAU Spring Break Championship wound down, the Notre Dame men’s golf team stumbled over the final few holes, finishing in 10th place at 40-over par 892 (294-296-302) as the tournament concluded on Sunday at the Gleneagles Country Club/Legends Course (par 71/6,722 yards) in Delray Beach, Fla. As a team, the Irish were just five-over par through 14 holes in Sunday’s third round, but they played their final four holes in 13-over par, dropping them two spots down the ladder from their position during most of the tournament (including the end of the first two days of action).
Nationally-ranked Illinois won the team title with a 54-hole score of 847 (-5), finishing 14 strokes ahead of Michigan, while the Fighting Illini’s Scott Langley took home medalist honors at eight-under par 205, two shots ahead of Northwestern’s Jonathan Bowers.
Freshman Tom Usher (Bradford, England/Guiseley School) carded a career-low eight-over par 221 (73-73-75) this weekend and led the Irish with a tie for 27th place in his spring debut. Playing in his fourth collegiate tournament, and only his second as a member of Notre Dame’s starting lineup, Usher showed the poise of a veteran and was at +1 for much of his final round before a double bogey on No. 15 and a bogey on the 18th hole marred his scorecard. Still, his final score was one stroke better than his previous best, which he had set while competing as an individual participant at the John Dallio Memorial on Sept. 21-22.
Junior Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) wound up tied for 33rd place at nine-over 222 (74-71-77), a solid finish for the all-BIG EAST selection, who was headed for an even better placement before bogeying his final four holes on Sunday.
The other three Irish golfers in this weekend’s lineup were separated by only three shots. Freshman Max Scodro (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame Prep (Ariz.)) tied for 52nd place at 12-over 225 (73-78-74), while junior Carl Santos-Ocampo (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) was one shot back of his rookie teammate in a 56th-place tie at 13-over 226 (75-75-76). Santos-Ocampo was enjoying the best round of any Notre Dame player through 16 holes on Sunday, standing at even-par, but a bogey on the 17th hole, followed by a quadruple bogey on the last left him in the black.
Sophomore Dustin Zhang (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) completed the Irish scoring in a tie for 63rd place at 15-over par 228 (74-77-77).
After playing four tournaments in only 18 days, Notre Dame will get a well-deserved breather before returning to competition on April 11-12 when it travels to Columbus, Ohio, for the 40th annual Robert Kepler Intercollegiate at the Ohio State Scarlet Course. It will be the final event for the Irish before the BIG EAST Championship, with live scoring available through the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com). Complete results also will be posted right here on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com) and the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000) following both days of the tournament.
— ND —
FAU Spring Break Championship
March 27-29, 2009
Gleneagles Country Club/Legends Course (Delray Beach, Fla.)
Par 71/6,722 yards
FINAL 54-HOLE TEAM RESULTS: 1. Illinois 847 (277-292-278); 2. Michigan 861 (287-292-282); 3. Eastern Michigan 864 (283-298-283); 4. Northwestern 871 (286-288-297); 5. Ohio State 873 (280-299-294); 6. Wisconsin 878 (291-294-293); 7. Memphis 880 (294-293-293); 8. Iowa 884 (291-297-296); 9. Florida Atlantic 887 (299-294-294); 10. NOTRE DAME 892 (294-296-302); 11. Marquette 894 (298-311-285); 12. Missouri 895 (297-300-298); 13. Northern Illinois 900 (306-306-288); 14. St. John’s 907 (310-298-299).
TOP 3 INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME GOLFERS (of 84): 1. Scott Langley (ILL) 205 (65-70-70); 2. Jonathan Bowers (NU) 207 (67-68-72); 3. Cam Burke (EMU) 211 (64-75-72); 27. (tie) Tom Usher (ND) 221 (73-73-75); 33. (tie) Doug Fortner 222 (74-71-77); 52. (tie) Max Scodro (ND) 225 (73-78-74); 56. (tie) Carl Santos-Ocampo (ND) 226 (75-75-76); 63. (tie) Dustin Zhang (ND) 228 (74-77-77).