May 22, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – One of the more successful seasons in the last four decades has come to an end for the Notre Dame men’s golf team. The Irish carded a final-round 307 (+19) on Saturday and finished in 12th place at the NCAA Central Regional, which was contested on the Kampen Course (7,259 yards, par 72) at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. The top 10 teams in the 27-team regional field earned spots in the NCAA Championship, with Notre Dame’s three-day score of 914 (+50) putting the Irish only four strokes behind Kent State for the coveted final qualifying position.
Notre Dame was making its first appearance in an NCAA postseason tournament since 1966, when the Irish placed 11th at the NCAA Championship. Although none of the Notre Dame golfers had any postseason experience entering this weekend’s regional, the Irish played like cagey veterans and exceeded virtually all expectations. In fact, Notre Dame was seeded 24th in the Central Regional and wound up in 12th place, a +12 differential. Only Wichita State (+13) and the host school, Purdue (+12) could match Notre Dame’s improvement over the weekend.
Kentucky fired a final-round 299 (+11) and finished at 882 (+18) to win the Central Regional by 11 shots over Oklahoma State. UK’s John Holmes took home medalist honors by shooting a final-round 71 to finish at two-under par 214, two shots better than SMU’s Will Dodson. In addition, A.J. Elgert of Kansas State and Jeff Overton of Indiana were the two lowest scoring individuals among the non-qualifying teams (both men tied for 12th place at six-over par 222) and they have garnered berths in the NCAA Championship, which will take place June 1-4 at The Homestead (Cascades Course) in Hot Springs, Va.
On a day when virtually every team in the field was at least 10 strokes over par, Notre Dame was 15-over on the day (+1 on the tricky back nine) and was right in the thick of things as it came to the final two holes, tied at +46 with Kent State, which was already in the clubhouse. However, the 17th and 18th holes at the Kampen Course are generally considered to be among the hardest on the Pete Dye-designed layout and they wound up hitting the Irish just enough to knock them out of contention. Sophomore Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) was at even par on his final round as he came to the par-3 17th hole, but his aggressive shot to the treacherous pin placement was just off-line and wound up resulting in a double bogey.
Despite the stumble at No. 17, Baldwin turned in the best score of the day with a two-over par 74, completing the 54-hole event at 227 (+11), good for a 30th-place tie. Classmate Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) also had some trouble on Saturday with a final-round seven-over 79, but he still recorded a 226 (+10) for the tournament to lead all Irish golfers and put him tied for 27th place overall.
Like Deutsch, sophomore Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) collected a seven-over par 79 in the third round and ended his regional stay with a score of 229 (+13), which earned him a share of 38th place. Meanwhile, freshman Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) relieved some of the sting from a pair of tough early rounds with a three-over par 75 on Saturday, giving him a final total of 238 (+22) and a tie for 97th place. Sophomore Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews HS) completed the Notre Dame quintet with a third-round 86 to wind up with a three-day score of 247 (+31), putting him in a 125th-place deadlock.
All five members of the Irish lineup at this weekend’s regional will return next season as Notre Dame prepares to defend its BIG EAST Conference Championship and return to the NCAA Central Regional. Both tournaments are slated to be held at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course.
— ND —
2004 NCAA Central Regional
Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex/Kampen Course – West Lafayette, Ind.
Par 72 – 7,259 yards
Saturday, May 21 – Final Round Scores
TEAM LEADERS (Top 10 advance to NCAA Championship): 1. Kentucky 882 (298-285-299); 2. Oklahoma State 893 (287-298-308); 3. Oklahoma 896 (305-294-297); 4. Texas A&M 899 (292-303-304); 5. (tie) Texas 901 (298-296-307) and TCU 901 (305-297-299); 7. Purdue 905 (295-302-308); 8. Wichita State 908 (302-300-306); 9. SMU 909 (302-299-308); 10. Kent State 910 (301-305-304); 11. Minnesota 911 (302-303-306); 12. NOTRE DAME 914 (310-297-307); 13. Texas Tech 917 (317-296-304); 14. Ohio State 918 (302-310-306); 15. Kansas State 923 (300-305-318); 16. Kansas 926 (315-300-311); 17. Arkansas 931 (314-307-310); 18. (tie) Illinois 933 (309-320-304) and Tulsa 933 (314-306-313); 20. (tie) Colorado 934 (304-307-323), Indiana 934 (306-308-320) and Lamar 934 (309-313-312); 23. Xavier 940 (312-316-312); 24. Western Illinois 958 (323-323-312); 25. Baylor 961 (321-317-323); 26. Princeton 974 (323-318-333); 27. Jackson State 1000 (333-337-330).
TOP EIGHT INDIVIDUALS (of 141): 1. John Holmes (Kentucky) 214 (73-70-71); 2. Will Dodson (SMU) 216 (72-73-71); 3. (tie) Jason Hartwick (Texas) 217 (69-73-75) and Brandon Waldrop (Kentucky) 217 (70-70-77); 5. Anthony Kim (Oklahoma) 218 (71-75-72); 6. Andrew Parr (Texas A&M) 219 (69-74-76); 7. Ryan Yip (Kent State) 220 (74-77-69); 8. (tie) four players at 221.
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 141): 27. (tie) Eric Deutsch 226 (76-71-79); 30. (tie) Mark Baldwin 227 (81-72-74); 38. (tie) Scott Gustafson 229 (75-75-79); 97 (tie). Cole Isban 238 (78-85-75); 125. (tie) Tommy Balderston 247 (82-79-86).