May 31, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame sophomore Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) is one of 15 golfers who have been named to the 2005 PING All-Midwest Region Team, the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced Tuesday. Isban is the first Irish golfer to earn any type of GCAA regional or national accolade since 1980, when John Lundgren was an honorable mention All-America selection. Isban also now becomes eligible for the PING All-America Team, which will be released following the completion of the NCAA Championships that will take place June 1-4 in Owings Mills, Md.
Isban posted a team-best 74.17 stroke average this season, registering the sixth-lowest single-season mark in school history. An all-BIG EAST Conference pick for the second consecutive year, he also posted five top-10 finishes and never placed lower than 30th in any of the 13 tournaments he competed in during the 2004-05 season. Isban’s best finish came in The Prestige at PGA WEST this past November, when he took runner-up honors with a three-over par 219. In addition, he recorded eight rounds at par or better, and shared the team lead with 91.7 percent of his rounds (33 of 36) counting to the team score.
In his two seasons at Notre Dame, Isban has a 74.69 stroke average, which also is sixth-best in school history. He has eight career top-10 finishes, including four in the top five, and has seen more than 91 percent of his rounds (64 of 70) count to the team score, the third-best rate by any Irish golfer in the past 15 years.
Notre Dame recently completed its 2004-05 season with a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional, which was held May 19-21 at Notre Dame’s own Warren Golf Course. The Irish, who wound up a mere two strokes out of a playoff to advance to this week’s NCAA Championships, also are the two-time defending BIG EAST champion and will have nine monogram winners returning next year, including all five starters from the NCAA Central Regional.
— ND —
PING All-Midwest Region Team (as announced by GCAA)
Scott Anderson, Ohio State
Mark Blakefield, Kentucky
Ryan Brehm, Michigan State
Garrett Chaussard, Illinois
John Holmes, Kentucky
Bronson LaCassie, Minnesota
Matt Harmon, Michigan State
Cole Isban, Notre Dame
Jason Kokrak, Xavier
Peter Laws, Kent State
Korey Mahoney, Eastern Michigan
Jeff Overton, Indiana
Andrew Ruthkoski, Michigan State
Matt Wells, Kentucky
Ryan Yip, Kent State