Oct. 15, 2006
The Prestige at PGA WEST
Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 16-17, 2006
7:30 a.m. (PT) both days
Greg Norman Course/PGA WEST
La Quinta, Calif.
Par 72/7,156 yards
Irish Continue Fall Season In The Prestige at PGA WEST
Following a solid runner-up showing at the inaugural Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic last week, Notre Dame starts a three-tournament Western swing to end the 2006-07 fall season, teeing off Monday and Tuesday in The Prestige at PGA WEST in La Quinta, Calif. The Irish will be appearing in the event for the third consecutive year, having placed 10th in 2004 and rising to fifth place in 2005.
Now earning eight votes in the GCAA/Bridgestone Coaches Poll (good for 42nd if the survey were extended), Notre Dame turned in one of its best regular-season efforts in the past two years at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic, carding a three-round score of 889 (+49) to finish ahead of four Golfweek Top 50 squads and trail only Lamar on the final team ladder. Senior All-America candidate Cole Isban fired a four-over par 214 to tie for second place in the individual standings, one stroke behind Lamar’s Justin Harding. Sophomore Josh Sandman and freshman Carl Santos-Ocampo tied for 11th place at 12-over par 222, with Santos-Ocampo competing as an individual participant (and sinking his second ace in as many tournaments to boot).
Quoting Coach Kubinski
“The Prestige at PGA WEST is one of the better events in college golf. We’re looking forward to competing against many of the top golf programs from the Pac-10 and on a golf course that generally rewards the best players. PGA WEST requires precision. You have to be accurate in your driving and approaches. The greens are also a strong test. Coming off a nice finish here at Notre Dame – on a golf course requiring similar shot making and short game prowess to PGA WEST – I feel we’re ready to play well again.
“We’re starting the same lineup that played in our event with the exception of inserting junior Greg Rodgers for fellow junior Mike King. Greg has played in The Prestige each of the past two years and has really started to find his game of late. He’s hitting the ball farther than any player on our team right now but, more importantly, he has shown improved accuracy and has putted much better.”
Dates and Times
Teams will play two rounds (36 holes) on Monday, with the opening round teeing off via a shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. PT (10:30 a.m. ET). The second round will begin immediately following the conclusion of round one. Competitors will then return to the course Tuesday for the third and final round, also to be played via a shotgun start, beginning at 7:30 a.m. (PT).
Following The Irish
Live scoring for The Prestige at PGA WEST will be available through the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com). Complete results following each day’s action also will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com). In addition, the latest information from The Prestige at PGA WEST, including results, scheduling updates and weather delays, will be available on the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000).
New this year is the Irish ALERT system, which provides fans with regular updates on Notre Dame’s progress in The Prestige at PGA WEST through text messages sent right to their cell phone. For more information or to register for this free service, visit the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com).
The Tournament Format
A total of 15 five-man teams (75 participants, plus the possibility of several golfers also competing on an individual basis) will be taking part in The Prestige at PGA WEST. Conventional collegiate golf team scoring rules will apply, with the lowest four scores in the five-man lineup for each round counting toward the team total. Scores by golfers competing on an individual basis do not count to the team score.
The Teams
Besides Notre Dame and tournament co-hosts UC Davis and Stanford, the remaining teams in the field for The Prestige at PGA WEST are: California, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Northern Colorado, Oregon, Princeton, San Diego, UC Irvine, UCLA and USC.
According to the latest GCAA/Bridgestone Top 25 poll (released Oct. 12), three ranked teams – No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 USC and No. 12 Stanford – are scheduled to take part in this week’s tournament. Five other teams received votes in the current coaches’ poll – Minnesota (67 votes; 26th place), Notre Dame (eight votes; 42nd place), Kansas (six votes; tie-43rd place), Oregon and San Diego (one vote each; tie-51st place).
Meanwhile, the Oct. 8 ratings in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index show that seven of the top 50 teams will be on hand for The Prestige at PGA WEST. Leading the way is No. 2 USC, followed by No. 7 Stanford and 17th-ranked UCLA. Also on the first page of the Golfweek ratings are No. 28 Kansas, 31st-ranked Minnesota, No. 46 Colorado and 48th-ranked Illinois. California isn’t far outside the top 50 at No. 61, while Notre Dame was ranked 66th by Golfweek, although it should be noted these rankings were taken before the Irish finished second at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic on Oct. 9-10.
In addition, the first Golfstat rankings of the 2006-07 season (unveiled Oct. 11) indicate eight of this week’s participants appearing in that service’s Top 50. USC is tops at No. 5, with Stanford ranked 11th and UCLA at No. 15. Appearing in the second half of the Top 50 this week are: No. 26 Kansas, 30th-ranked Minnesota, No. 41 Colorado, 47th-ranked Illinois and No. 49 Notre Dame.
Head-To-Head
Minnesota and Stanford are the only teams Notre Dame already has faced this season, with the Irish finishing 29 shots behind the Cardinal and 24 strokes back of UM at the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 16-17.
Last year, Notre Dame matched up with 12 of the other 14 teams in the field at The Prestige at PGA WEST, sporting a combined 11-14 (.440) record against those squads (taking on all but Princeton and San Diego). The Irish record in 2005-06 vs. The Prestige at PGA WEST field breaks down as follows: California (1-1), Colorado (2-0), Illinois (1-1), Kansas (1-0), Minnesota (1-3), Northern Colorado (1-0), Oregon (1-0), Stanford (2-1), USC (0-2), UC Davis (1-1), UC Irvine (0-1) and UCLA (0-4).
The Course
The Greg Norman Course is the newest of the six championship-caliber layouts at the 2,200-acre PGA WEST development in La Quinta, Calif., located minutes outside Palm Springs. The resort opened in 1984 and has played host to numerous PGA Tour events during nearly a quarter century of service, including the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, where David Duval tied a Tour record and won the event with a final-round 59 in 1999. Measuring out at 7,156 yards, the par-72 Greg Norman Course lies in a seabed 40 feet below sea level, surrounded by an immense crescent of terra-cotta mountains. The course teems with purple, white and yellow wildflowers, while the mix of tall and short native grasses produce different shades of green running almost to silver. The grass covers just 60 acres of tight fairways that taper toward the greens with nine ponds covering 18 acres.
Last Time Out: Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic
On a day where cold, blustery conditions put scoring at a premium, Notre Dame was able to hold its ground, finishing second at the inaugural Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic, which concluded Oct. 10 at the Warren Golf Course (par 70/7,011 yards) on the northern edge of the Notre Dame campus. The Irish fired a final-round 303 and ended the two-day event at 49-over par 889 (292-294-303), winding up 29 shots back of No. 23 Lamar in the final tournament standings. A quartet of teams ranked among the top 50 in the latest Golfweek rankings finished behind Notre Dame — No. 44 Baylor (896) was third, one shot better than No. 27 Florida State (897), with No. 49 Vanderbilt (906) and No. 47 Augusta State (908) completing the upper half of the 12-team field.
Playing on his 22nd birthday, senior All-America candidate Cole Isban nearly gave himself a remarkable present, tying for second place at four-over par 214 (68-73-73), one stroke behind Lamar’s Justin Harding, who chipped in for birdie on the 18th hole (as part of a birdie-birdie finish) to secure medalist honors. Nevertheless, Isban picked up his seventh career top-five finish and 13th top-10 showing of his illustrious career, while his opening-round 68 was only one shot off his career-low mark, which he carded in the second round of the 2006 Administaff Augusta State Invitational. Sophomore Josh Sandman was the next-highest finisher in Notre Dame’s starting lineup, earning a share of 11th place at 12-over par 222 (73-73-76). Sandman now has placed 20th or better in four of seven career college tournaments, including both of his events this year (he tied Isban for 19th place at the season-opening Gopher Invitational back on Sept. 17).
Three Tournaments, Three Aces For Irish
It would be difficult to script a much better start than Notre Dame freshmen Doug Fortner and Carl Santos-Ocampo have experienced in the past month. Between them, the two Irish rookies have fired three aces in three tournaments, including matching holes-in-one in their respective college debuts a mere 10 days apart.
Fortner was the first to card a “single” on Sept. 16 in the second round of the Gopher Invitational in Wayzata, Minn., pulling out a pitching wedge and sinking his tee shot on the par-3, 139-yard 17th hole at the Spring Hill Golf Club. Not to be outdone, Santos-Ocampo made his mark in the final round of the John Dallio Memorial (a “B” team event for the Irish) in West Chicago, Ill., using a 7-iron to bury his tee shot on the par-3, 175-yard third hole at the Prairie Landing Golf Club.
Santos-Ocampo was at it again on Oct. 10 in the final round of the Fighting Irish Gridiron Golf Classic. Playing into a stiff breeze, the diminutive Notre Dame freshman took an 8-iron to the tee of the par-3, fourth hole at the Warren Golf Course and promptly buried his 136-yard tee shot. Research is ongoing to determine the rarity of these three aces in three tournaments, let alone the fact they all have been made by freshmen.
Things You Should Know About The Irish
- Notre Dame is the three-time defending BIG EAST Conference champion, winning the 2006 title with a dramatic 12-stroke comeback (second-largest in school and league history) in the final round to defeat Louisville on the first playoff hole. The Irish joined St. John’s as the only programs in the 26-year history of the BIG EAST Championship to win three consecutive titles on two separate occasions. The Irish recorded their first hat trick from 1995-97, while St. John’s posted a pair of “four-peats” from 1981-84 and 1986-89.
- Notre Dame had four players finish end last season with sub-74 stroke averages, the first time that has happened in the 77-year history of the program. Cole Isban carded a school-record 72.97 average, followed by Mark Baldwin (73.17), Josh Sandman (73.40) and Scott Gustafson (73.53).
- The Irish achieved another milestone on May 1, 2006 when they were chosen as the Golfweek National Team of the Week. The honor came following Notre Dame’s memorable 12-shot comeback in the final round of the BIG EAST Championship and subsequent playoff victory over Louisville.
- Notre Dame’s impressive resurgence of late has been augmented by its play against nationally-ranked opponents. In fact, since Jim Kubinski took over as head coach in January 2005, the Irish have toppled 12 Top 25 teams (according to Golfweek), including seven last season.
- Senior Cole Isban is a prime candidate to become Notre Dame’s first All-American since 1980 (John Lundgren – honorable mention), coming off consecutive selections to the PING All-Midwest Region Team. Isban owns the school’s single-season and career stroke average (see chart on page 3) and has qualified for the last three U.S. Amateur Championships.
Next Up: CordeValle Collegiate (Nov. 6-7)
Notre Dame continues its Western swing to close out the 2006-07 fall season when it heads to San Martin, Calif., for the CordeValle Collegiate, to be hosted by UCLA on Nov. 6-7. Last year, the Irish were disqualified from the tournament after Cole Isban and Scott Gustafson inadvertently played each other’s golf balls during first-round play (due to an unusual pairing system, where two golfers from the same school played as part of foursomes during the tournament).