Chris Walker and the Irish look to improve on a 12th place finish in their last tournament as they tee it up Saturday at the LSU National Invitational.

Chris Walker Wins 2011 HGA Collegiate Match Play Championship

Jan. 7, 2011

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Junior Chris Walker (The Woodlands, Texas), a member of the Irish men’s golf team, captured the 2011 Houston Golf Association (HGA) Collegiate Match Play Championship on Tuesday at the BlackHorse Golf Club in Houston, Texas, holding off Ryan Haselden of Vanderbilt in the championship match, 2 & 1.

Walker entered the match play portion in the tournament seeded third overall after finishing at one-over par (73-72=145) during stroke play qualifying. The mark fell behind Haselden, who qualified first with a nine-under par (135), and Garrett Driver who ended at one-under par (143).

Once in the round of 16 in the match play draw, Walker made quick work of his first two opponents, dispatching Blake Wilson, 4 & 3, and then Will Dusenbury in the quarterfinals, 3 & 2.

The semifinals provided the most difficult test for Walker as he faced off against the seven seed and previous year’s champion of the event Michael Whitehead. The junior battled through a full 18-hole match before securing the victory with a 1 up tally.

Walker and the rest of his Notre Dame teammates return to team competition Feb. 10-12 at The Match Play on the TPC of Tampa Bay in Lutz, Fla. Currently the Irish sit 27th in the Golfstat rankings and 26th in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings after putting together a 57-4 fall campaign.

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