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Fighting Irish Classic Champions

Oct. 9, 2017

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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the third time in the 12-year history of the Fighting Irish Classic, the Notre Dame men’s golf team emerged with the championship trophy. Competing in three rounds over two days at The Warren Golf Course, the Irish shot an 822 (-18), besting runner-up Georgia Southern by six strokes.

Individually, Notre Dame’s Davis Chatfield came one stroke shy of making it an Irish sweep, finishing in third with a 205 (-5). William & Mary’s David Hicks along with Georgia Southern’s Steven Fisk tied for first with a 204 (-6).

The Final Round
Notre Dame built an impressive 13-stroke lead heading into today’s final round, where the Blue and Gold shot a 280 (E) to finish at 18-under par. Ben Albin led the way for the Irish for the second straight round, tallying a 68 (-2). The junior recorded five birdies before finishing four-under on the back-nine, achieving a 208 (-2) for the tournament, which was good for seventh place.

Chatfield recorded an even-par 70 on Monday to secure his third-place finish, marking his best ever showing in the final standings. Meanwhile, Hunter Ostrom also dialed up an even-par 70, ultimately tying for fourth with a 206 (-4), garnering his second career top-five finish.

Stats of the Day
By finishing at 18-under par, Notre Dame set a new Fighting Irish Classic record for top team total to par. The previous best was five-under par set by Texas El Paso in 2016.

Notre Dame has now tied Michigan State for the most Fighting Irish Classic team championships with three. The Irish previously won in 2009 and 2015.

Quotable
“A special event for sure and only my third with the team,” Notre Dame head coach John Handrigan said. “We got these guys going quick and Coach Gump did an awesome job. My father just passed away a couple of months ago so we honored this event for him, so it was pretty special that we won.”

Up Next
The Irish look to carry its momentum into the Autotrader Collegiate Classic, taking place Oct. 16-17, at the Berkeley Hills Country Club in Duluth, Georgia.

–ND–

Josh Bates joined Fighting Irish Media as associate athletics communications director in July of 2017, serving as the women’s basketball and men’s golf contact. Bates earned both his bachelor’s (2011) and master’s (2014) degree in sports management from the University of Illinois. He also worked as a grad assistant at Illinois from 2012-14 and worked full-time at Tulane University from 2014-17.