Sept. 9, 2001

Notre Dame, Ind. – Freshman Steve Colnitis (Baldwin, Md.) got his collegiate golf career off to a strong start as fired a final round 73 for a 72-hole total of 292 (79-68-72-73) to capture the Notre Dame men’s campus golf championship by two strokes over sophomore Gavin Ferlic (South Bend, Ind.) on Sunday afternoon at the Warren Golf Course.

Colnitis and Ferlic went into the final round of play tied for first with 219 totals after the first 54 holes. Ferlic closed with 75 for his final round and a 294 (76-72-71-75) total. Seniors Kevin Ricci (Winter Park, Fla.) and Chris Whitten (Rockford, Mich.) had the two best rounds of the day with 71 and 72 respectively to finish tied for third with 72-hole totals of 295, three strokes behind Colnitis.

Ricci had a strong weekend with rounds of 72 and 71 to move into third. A week ago he had rounds of 75 and 77 to open the tournament. Whitten, who was the first round leader with an opening 73, had a solid tournament with rounds of 73, 76, 74 and 72 for his 295.

“This is a great thrill for me to win this as a freshman and it really means a lot to me to start my college career this way,” said Colnitis. “I was really nervous over the last four holes when I realized that I had a chance to win it.”

Colnitis struggled off the tee all afternoon, but made some great saves throughout the day to keep pace with Ferlic.

“I made some good shots on six, seven and 12 where I was able to punch out of trouble and then made some long pars. After 12, I started to play better. I knew I had a good chance to win it on 17 when I went driver-seven iron to within two feet. That gave me confidence going into 18,” explained Colnitis.

Notre Dame’s top returning golfer, junior Steve Ratay (Arlington Heights, Ill.), finished fifth with a 72-hole total of 297. Ratay, who led after two rounds with a pair of 73’s finished with rounds of 75 and 76.

Rounding out the top 10 golfers in the men’s championship behind Ratay were freshman K.C. Wiseman (South Bend, Ind.) who was sixth with a 301 (75-73-79-74), William McCaughan (So., Key Biscayne, Fla.) was seventh with a 304 (79-74-76-75), junior Brandon Lunke (San Antonio, Tex.) shot a 72-hole total of 306 (81-76-75-74) for an eighth place finish while Fernando Herrera (Jr., Lexington, Ky.) was ninth with rounds of 82-76-79-77 for a 314 total and Andy Vitt (So., St. Louis, Mo.) was 10th with a 316 mark (80-76-76-84).

The men’s golf team, under new head coach John Jasinski, will now prepare for its season opening tournament this coming weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 15-16 when they play in the Northern Intercollegiate Tournament at the Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, Iowa.

2001 NOTRE DAME MEN’S CAMPUS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP

Final 72-hole standings, Sept. 9 … Warren Golf Course

MEN’S INDIVIDUAL SCORING (field of 15): 1. Steve Colnitis (79-68-72-73-292), 2. Gavin Ferlic (76-72-71-75-294), 3. Chris Whitten (73-76-74-72-295), Kevin Ricci (75-77-72-71-295), 5. Steve Ratay (73-73-75-76-297), 6. K.C. Wiseman (75-73-79-74-301), 7. William McCaughan (79-74-76-75-304), 8. Brandon Lunke (81-76-75-74-306), 9. Fernando Herrera (82-76-79-77-314), 10. Andy Vitt (80-76-76-84-316), 11. Andy Kent (79-80-77-83-319), 12. Ryan Marshall (79-84-81-76-320), 13. Brent Haydon (79-81-81-80-321), 14. Mike Hastings (81-82-79-81-323), 15. Donald Wolf (78-81-78-WD-WD)