Dec. 14, 2016
By Leigh Torbin
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Coming off of a strong fall season which saw Notre Dame claim two team and three individual titles, Irish men’s golf head coach Jim Kubinski strengthened his program for the future with the addition of two National Letter of Intent signees during the fall signing period.
Davis Chatfield (Attleboro, Mass. / Bishop Feehan HS) and Alex Jamieson (Duxbury, Mass. / Duxbury HS) will be members of the Irish squad in the fall of 2017. Having both of them hail from Massachusetts is not lost on their Springfield-native head coach.
“Given our history of recruiting players from across the country and other continents, having our 2017 signees call the same state home is very unique,” Kubinski said. “In fact, as a Massachusetts native myself, Alex and Davis are the first two players from my home state to join our program.
“We’re excited to welcome both Alex and Davis into our Notre Dame golf family. Each player has achieved high-level success on the golf course and in the classroom.”
Chatfield has twice claimed the Rhode Island amateur championship. He was the 2015 runner up at both the Massachusetts and New England amateur championships. He won the 2016 World Series of Junior Golf and placed 17th in the Junior PGA Championship. He is a two-time men’s Attleboro Open champion. Chatfield was named the Boston Globe’s Division II Player of the Year in 2015 and also earned a spot on the Boston Herald’s all star team.
“Davis has been a very nice player for some time but really blossomed this past summer,” Kubinski said. “He seemed to take his game to another level, which has also allowed his confidence to grow. Davis is ranked well in the junior golf rankings but those rankings don’t include some tremendous finishes he posted in men’s amateur events, including a win at the Rhode Island Amateur. He’s actually the only player to ever hold both the Rhode Island Am and Junior Am trophies at the same time.
“We’ve also been so impressed by Davis’ high school play, winning states as an individual and also leading his team to victory. He has been a part of multiple big team wins, including the New England team title, which is something I’m sure he’ll draw from moving into college golf.”
Jamieson is the top-ranked junior golfer in Massachusetts according to Junior Golf Scoreboard. He is a two-time state runner-up and two-time sectional champion. He has four top-five finishes in AJGA events to his credit and represented the commonwealth at the 2016 New England Junior Amateur, helping Team Massachusetts to the largest margin of victory in tournament history. He is a two-time Boston Globe all-scholastic pick and has twice been named to the Boston Herald’s all-scholastic squad. Jamieson is also a member of the National Honor Society.
“Alex is a strong competitor,” Kubinski said. “He seems to live for it. He has posted so many impressive and under-par rounds in tournaments. He’s mentally tough too. We love Alex’s dedication and determination. He’s getting bigger and stronger. His golf swing keeps improving and he’s very, very good on and around the greens. Maybe best of all, Alex is a student of the game, always looking for ways to improve.”
There is no doubt Kubinski is excited to bring this tandem to Notre Dame for the 2017-18 season and beyond.
“Both players have a great passion for this game, for competing,” he said. “They’re Notre Dame guys. They’re excellent students and highly competitive and motivated players, with great attitudes and high character. They’re young men who ask a lot of themselves and made it clear from the beginning that they wanted to be a part of Notre Dame, which is something I very much appreciated. With continued dedication and the maturation we expect, both can be very significant contributors as they join our program.”
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Leigh Torbin, athletics communications associate director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2013 and coordinates all media efforts for Notre Dame’s women’s basketball and men’s golf teams. A native of Framingham, Massachusetts, Torbin graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. He has previously worked full-time on the athletic communications staffs at Vanderbilt, Florida, Connecticut and UCF.