Sophomore Dustin Zhang tied for 18th place at last year's BIG EAST Championship, and is one of two Irish golfers with experience playing in the conference tournament.

Irish Finish 10th In Prestige At PGA WEST

Oct. 14, 2008

Final Tournament Results in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

LA QUINTA, Calif. — Paced by an impressive comeback from sophomore Dustin Zhang (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll), the Notre Dame men’s golf team finished in 10th place at the 16-team Prestige at PGA WEST, which wrapped up Tuesday on the Greg Norman Course (par 72/7,156 yards) at the PGA WEST facility in La Quinta, Calif. The Irish registered a three-round total of 37-over par 901 (307-301-293) to wind up a single shot out of an upper-division finish (and a tie with No. 17 Michigan State), while TCU won the tournament at three-under par 861.

Zhang tied for 35th place in the 84-man event at 12-over par 228 (89-71-68), playing brilliantly to erase all memory of a difficult first round on Monday morning. His final-round 68 also was a career-low, one stroke better than his previous standard that he shot at last year’s Rutgers Invitational (“B” team tournament). All told, Zhang carded 13 birdies, tying for the fourth-highest total in the field. UC Davis’ Nate Pistacchio and TCU’s Johan de Beer shared medalist honors at six-under par 210.

Sophomore Connor Alan-Lee (Solana Beach, Calif./La Jolla Country Day School) endured almost the exact opposite of Zhang’s fortunes at this week’s tournament, although the end result (a 35th-place tie) was the same. Alan-Lee, who began Tuesday’s final round in a tie for sixth place, ended up at 12-over par 228 (73-73-82) following two double bogeys and a triple bogey during his last 18 holes.

Junior Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) was one stroke behind his teammates in a tie for 38th place at 13-over par 229 (77-78-74). Fortner’s classmate, Carl Santos-Ocampo (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples), tied for 71st place at 18-over par 234 (797-79-76), while carding an eagle at the par-5, 526-yard second hole on Tuesday (after Fortner did the same during Monday’s opening round). Freshman Tom Usher (Bradford, England/Guiseley School) finished one shot behind Santos-Ocampo in a 73rd-place tie at 19-over par 235 (78-82-75).

Notre Dame will close out the 2008-09 fall schedule on Oct. 27-28 when it travels to the Forest Oaks Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., for the UNCG Bridgestone Collegiate Championship.

— ND —

The Prestige at PGA WEST
Oct. 13-14, 2008
Greg Norman Course/PGA WEST (La Quinta, Calif.)
Par 72/7,156 yards

FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54 holes): 1. TCU 861 (294-289-278); 2. UC Davis 871 (306-280-285); 3. Stanford 879 (297-292-290); 4. Central Florida 882 (303-295-284); 5. Washington 889 (310-303-276); 6. Pepperdine 896 (300-298-298); 7. California 897 (312-293-292); 8. (tie) Northwestern 900 (308-298-294) and Michigan State 900 (327-290-283); 10. NOTRE DAME 901 (307-301-293); 11. Colorado 905 (306-303-295); 12. Michigan 908 (310-292-306); 13. Kentucky 910 (309-310-291); 14. Florida Southern 912 (302-315-295); 15. Pacific 921 (317-305-299); 16. Rice 926 (322-302-302).

TOP 4 INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME GOLFERS (of 84): 1. (tie) Nate Pistacchio (UCD) 210 (68-71-71) and Johan de Beer (TCU) 210 (72-70-68); 3. David Johnson (UCF) 211 (76-67-68); 4. Andrew Putnam (Pepp) 215 (68-77-70); 35. (tie) Dustin Zhang 228 (89-71-68) and Connor Alan-Lee (ND) 228 (73-73-82); 38. (tie) Doug Fortner (ND) 229 (77-78-74); 71. (tie) Carl Santos-Ocampo (ND) 234 (79-79-76); 73. Tom Usher (ND) 235 (78-82-75).