May 30, 2007
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Recently-graduated Notre Dame men’s golf standout Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) has earned a place on the 2007 PING All-Midwest Region Team, it was announced Wednesday by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). It’s the third consecutive year Isban has been chosen for the honor, making him the first golfer in the program’s 78-year history to garner three regional or national honors in his career.
For the second time in as many years, Isban broke the school record for single-season stroke average (72.71), and he tied Jeff Connell’s 54-hole school scoring record with a seven-under par 209 at the Border Olympics in Laredo, Texas, on March 16-17. In 12 events this season, Isban finished in the top 20 nine times, including three top-five finishes, led by a runner-up showing at the inaugural Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic on October 9-10. Isban also carded 14 rounds at par or better (12 below par, including six in the 60s) and saw 94.1 percent of his rounds (32-of-34) count towards the team score. He concluded his college career April 22-24 at the BIG EAST Conference Championship, where he tied for fifth place at three-under par 213 to collect his third all-BIG EAST citation (also 2004 and 2005). Mark Baldwin (2003, 2005-06) and Chris Dayton (1990-92) join Isban as the only other three-time all-conference picks in program history.
A two-time captain and four-year monogram winner from 2004-07, Isban is a little more than a month removed from the close of a brilliant four-year run at Notre Dame, with statistics and records that put him among the greats in school history. He owns a share of the Irish career stroke average record (73.76, also held by rising junior Josh Sandman), while his 19 team-leading tournament efforts also are a school standard. What’s more, his 48 tournaments played, 140 competitive rounds and 127 rounds counted all are tops among Notre Dame golfers since 1990. Upon graduation, Isban had registered 16 career top-10 finishes (averaging one for every three tournaments played), along with nine top-five outings and a career-best tie for first place at the 2005 Shoal Creek Intercollegiate (he was eliminated from medalist contention on the first hole of a sudden death playoff).
Isban was instrumental in Notre Dame’s resurgence on the national scene during the past four years, helping the Irish to three BIG EAST titles (2004-06) and three NCAA regional berths (2004-06), as well as a regular place in the Golfweek Top 50 and the program’s selection as the Golfweek National Team of the Week on May 1, 2006. During Isban’s career, Notre Dame posted three of the top seven single-season team stroke averages in school history, led by a record-setting 292.97 mark in 2005-06.
A 2007 graduate from the Mendoza College of Business with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, Isban has qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship each of the past three years, and also advanced to the 16-man match play tree at the 2005 Western Amateur Championship. He is expected to maintain his amateur status through the summer before turning his attention to the multi-stage PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament (also known as “Q-School”), which starts in September and affords Isban the chance to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2008 season.
— ND —