Oct. 4, 2003
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Following a two-week layoff, the Notre Dame men’s golf team gets back on the links Monday, Oct. 6, when it takes part in the eighth annual Windon Memorial Classic, hosted by Northwestern University. The Irish will play 36 holes on Monday, with the final round slated for Tuesday, Oct. 7 at the par-72, 7,031-yard North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Ill., located just north of Chicago.
This will mark Notre Dame’s first appearance in Northwestern’s annual fall tournament. Joining the Irish in this year’s 17-team field are: Arizona, California, UC-Davis, Illinois, Kent State, LSU, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Florida, Northwestern (the defending tourney champion), Oklahoma State, Purdue, Rice, SMU, Stanford and Toledo. Of the teams in the ’03 Windon Classic, eight currently are ranked among the Top 50 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index ratings, led by No. 10 Minnesota and No. 25 California.
The North Shore course is considered one of the more demanding tracks in the Midwest, having played host to three major championships in its long and illustrious history – the 1933 U.S. Open, the 1939 U.S. Amateur Championships and the 1983 U.S. Amateur Championships. It will be the second time in as many tournaments this season that the Irish have played on a championship-level course, having placed 15th in the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational on Sept. 19-20 at the famed Inverness Club course in Toledo, Ohio.
Notre Dame head coach John Jasinski has made several changes to his lineup for this week’s tournament. Only two of the five players who traveled to Toledo are active this week, paced by sophomore Scott Gustafson (Rochester, Minn./Eden Prairie HS), who finished tied for 46th at the Inverness Intercollegiate with a three-round score of 232 (77-73-82). Freshman Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) also will compete in his second tournament of the year after suffering some hard luck in Toledo two weeks ago. The Irish rookie fired an opening-round 81, then was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard at the end of the second round.
Joining Gustafson and Isban in the Notre Dame lineup for the Windon Classic will be a trio of sophomore monogram winners – Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews HS), Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) and Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS). Balderston played in nine tournaments last season, posting a 75.88 stroke average with a top finish of fifth at the SMU/Stonebridge Invitational. He peaked at the end of the 2002-03 campaign, finishing second on the team with a 75.18 stroke average during the spring season.
Meanwhile, Baldwin was third on the squad a 75.55 stroke average last year after competing in 10 tournaments for Notre Dame. His best finish was a sixth-place showing at the BIG EAST Championship, helping the Irish to a runner-up showing. Deutsch also saw action in 10 tournaments as a rookie in 2002-03, winding up fifth on the team with a 76.00 stroke average. He also was at his best late in the year, topping out with an 11th-place finish at the BIG EAST Championship.
Full results from the Windon Memorial Classic will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com) at the conclusion of each day’s action.
– ND –