May 19, 2004
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Notre Dame At 2004 NCAA Central Regional
Thursday-Saturday, May 20-22, 2004
Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex
Kampen Course
(7,259 Yards, Par 72)
West Lafayette, Ind.
For the first time since 1966, the Notre Dame men’s golf team will step onto the links in an NCAA postseason tournament when it takes part in the NCAA Central Regional Thursday-Sunday at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. The reigning BIG EAST Conference champion Irish are seeded 24th in the 27-team field and will be looking to be one of the top 10 teams that will advance to the NCAA Championship, to be contested June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va.
Dates and Times
Teams will play single rounds each day, teeing off at preassigned times. Notre Dame has been grouped with Indiana and Lamar and will begin its tournament schedule Thursday at 7:57 a.m. (EST/CDT) when the No. 5 golfers for those three teams tee off. The remainder of the lineup will follow at nine-minute intervals, with the No. 1 golfers going off at 8:33 a.m. (EDT/CST).
On Friday and Saturday, Notre Dame will tee off in the 12:36 p.m. (EST/CDT) group, once again beginning in reverse order of the lineup. The No. 1 golfers in the group will hit the links at 1:12 p.m. (EST/CDT).
Live Tournament Updates
Live stats from the 2004 NCAA Central Regional will be available at www.golfstat.com. In addition, regular updates on Notre Dame’s progress throughout the three-day event will be posted on the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000). Callers should select option #9, then press #2 for the latest information on the tournament, as well as any weather or scheduling delays.
The NCAA Regional Format
A total of 27 five-man teams (138 participants, including three individuals) will be participating in this weekend’s Central Regional, with the top 10 team finishers in the 54-hole event qualifying for the NCAA Championship, to be held June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va. (and hosted by Notre Dame’s BIG EAST Conference rival Virginia Tech). In addition, the low two individuals at the Central Regional who are not members of NCAA Championship-qualifying teams also will advance to the national tournament.
The Teams
This year’s NCAA Central Regional features a 27-team field that includes the following squads (in order of seeding): Oklahoma State, Texas, TCU, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arkansas, Kansas, Tulsa, Colorado, SMU, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Baylor, Texas A&M, Xavier, Illinois, Ohio State, Purdue, Kent State, Wichita State, Indiana, Lamar, Notre Dame, Princeton, Western Illinois and Jackson State.
Oklahoma State is the highest-ranked team in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index ratings, placing eighth in the country. Other Top 50 programs in this weekend’s regional include No. 9 Texas, No. 10 TCU, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 17 Oklahoma, No. 22 Kentucky, No. 23 Arkansas, No. 25 Kansas, No. 31 Tulsa, No. 32 Colorado, No. 33 SMU, No. 35 Kansas State, No. 36 Texas Tech, No. 39 Illinois, No. 40 Indiana, No. 41 Baylor, No. 45 Ohio State, No. 46 Wichita State, No. 47 Texas A&M and No. 50 Kent State. By contrast, Notre Dame currently is 94th in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings.
Notre Dame has posted a 5-35-1 record against the field at this year’s NCAA Central Regional, earning wins over Baylor, Lamar, Ohio State, SMU and Wichita State, as well as a tie with SMU.
The Course
This weekend’s NCAA Central Regional will be played on the Kampen Course (7,259 yards, par 72) at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind. The Pete Dye-designed layout opened on June 28, 1998 and has played host to numerous championship-level tournaments, including the 2001 NCAA Women’s Golf Central Regional and the 2003 NCAA Women’s Golf National Championship.
Irish At The NCAA Central Regional
This year marks a first for the Notre Dame men’s golf program as it competes in an NCAA regional tournament. The last time the Irish advanced to NCAA postseason competition in 1966, the regional events did not exist. They were not installed until the 1989 campaign.
The Last Time…
It’s certainly been a while since the Notre Dame men’s golf team has qualified for postseason play (1966, to be exact). Here’s a look at some noteworthy events from the last time the Irish competed in an NCAA postseason tournament:
- Man had yet to land on the moon (didn’t happen until 1969).
- The No. 1 songs of the day included “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys, “I’m a Believer” by The Monkees and “We Can Work It Out” by The Beatles.
- The top TV shows of the year were “Bonanza” and “The Andy Griffith Show.”
- One of the top-grossing films of the year was “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”, starring Clint Eastwood.
- A gallon of gas cost just 32 cents (compared to $2 today), while the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped out at a whopping 950 (compared to its current mark of nearly 10,000).
- The Green Bay Packers won their third consecutive NFL championship and went on to defeat the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10, in the first-ever Super Bowl, played in January 1967 in Los Angeles.
Irish Lineup
This weekend’s tournament will provide another stepping stone in the growing development and renaissance of the Notre Dame men’s golf program. The Irish have relied heavily on their underclassmen this season and the NCAA Central Regional will be no different, as third-year head coach John Jasinski sends out a lineup comprised of four sophomores and a freshman.
Sophomore Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn.) comes into the regional with a team-low 74.03 stroke average, the fifth-best single-season mark in school history. An all-BIG EAST Conference selection in 2003, Gustafson has been the top Irish finisher in six of 11 events this year, topped by his third-place showing and career-low 210 (-6), second-best in school history, at the SMU/Stonebridge Invitational in October.
Freshman Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind.) has made a big splash in his rookie season, earning all-BIG EAST honors and posting a 74.84 stroke average. He has finished in the top 10 at three events this year, capped by a third-place tie at the BIG EAST Championship last month. He is coming off a three-over par 75 at Monday’s U.S. Open qualifer in South Bend, narrowly missing advancement to the next stage.
Sophomore Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla.) has had an up-and-down second season, although he has been peaking at the end of the year. He garnered all-BIG EAST accolades for the second consecutive year by tying Isban for third place at the BIG EAST Championship and leading the Irish to their first conference crown since 1997. He owns a team-best three top-five finishes in 2003-04, and is poised to give Notre Dame three golfers with sub-75 scoring averages for the first time in school history.
Sophomore Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H.) occupies the fourth spot in the Irish lineup after logging a 77.12 scoring mark in the regular season. He has appeared in nine tournaments, including six in the spring, and carded a season-best score of 218 (+2) en route to an 18th-place finish at the Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational. A 2003 all-BIG EAST pick, he almost repeated that feat, finishing just out of the running in eighth place at the league tourney.
Sophomore Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn.) was the third Irish golfer to earn all-BIG EAST laurels this year and he rounds out the Notre Dame quintet at the Central Regional. Deutsch sports a 77.08 stroke average and was at his best in crunch time, tying for fifth place at the BIG EAST Championship with a nine-over par 219 that was highlighted by a second-round 71.
Last Tournament – Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational
The Notre Dame men’s golf team, playing its final regular-season tournament of the year finished in 14th place at Michigan State’s Bruce Fossum/TaylorMade Invitational on May 2, after shooting a 54-hole total of 945. The tournament was played at the par 72, 7,013-yard Forest Akers West Golf Course in East Lansing, Mich. The Irish finished 65 shots off the pace set by tournament-winner Indiana. On the weekend, Notre Dame posted rounds of 319, 321 and 305 for its 945 mark.
Individually, the Irish were led by freshman Adam Gifford (Plymouth, Ind./Plymouth HS) who was 14-over par for the tournament with a 230 after rounds of 78, 76 and 76. That put him 20 strokes off the pace of tournament medalist Jeff Overton who carded a six-under par 210 (73-70-67) for the 54 holes.
Rounding out the Notre Dame contingent was fellow freshman Shane Sigsbee (McKinney, Texas/McKinney HS) who tied for 61st in the tournament with a 235 total. After rounds of 80 and 83 on Saturday, Sigsbee fired an even-par 72 for his final 18 holes on Sunday. Senior captain Gavin Ferlic (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) was third among Irish golfers and tied for 67th with a 240 mark (78-79-83). Ferlic was followed by juniors Steve Colnitis (Baldwin, Md./St. Paul’s School) in 69th with a 241 (83-83-75) and K.C. Wiseman (South Bend, Ind./Riley HS) who was 74th with a 250 total (84-84-82).
Tough Schedule
No one can say Notre Dame has backed away from top competition this year. In fact, during the course of the 2003-04 season, the Irish have faced 44 of the top 50 teams in the country, according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index rankings. Notre Dame also has played seven of the top 10 teams in that poll, as well as 14 of the 18 teams that competed in last year’s NCAA Championships, including the top four finishers (national champion Clemson, runner-up Oklahoma State, third-place UCLA and fourth-place Wake Forest).
Opening Strong
The Irish have posted their best team scores during the first round of tournament play this year, carding a 300.25 over the opening 18 holes. Leading the charge in the first round have been sophomore Scott Gustafson (73.91) and freshman Cole Isban (74.64).
Making It Count
Freshman Cole Isban has been particularly efficient in his rookie season at Notre Dame. The South Bend native has seen 93.5 percent of his rounds (29 of 31) count towards the team score in 2003-04. Sophomore Scott Gustafson is close behind Isban with 87.5 percent of his rounds (28 of 32) counting this year.
Team Records Watch
Notre Dame has recorded a 300.71 stroke average in 2003-04, which is the eighth-best team total in school history, and the second-best in the tenure of head coach John Jasinski (record: 300.14 in 2002-03). The top scoring mark in the program’s history is a 298.29 average, set by the 1999-2000 squad.
Individual Records Watch
Sophomore Scott Gustafson’s current 74.03 season stroke average is fifth-best in school history, while freshman Cole Isban’s 74.84 mark is good for 16th on the Irish single-season charts. Only five times in Notre Dame’s 75-year golf history have two teammates posted sub-75 scoring averages for an entire season — 1955-56 (Joe Grace – 73.13 and Charles Thurn – 73.88), 1997-98 (Willie Kent – 74.07 and Todd Vernon – 74.59), 1998-99 (Kent – 74.76 and Brad Hardin – 74.81), 1999-00 (Vernon – 74.18 and Steve Ratay – 74.54) and 2000-01 (Ratay – 73.68 and Alex Kent – 74.18). Another stat to watch is Tommy Balderston’s current 75.10 stroke average … Notre Dame has never had three players card sub-75 scoring averages for an entire campaign.
Next For The Irish
Should Notre Dame finish among the top 10 at this weekend’s NCAA Central Regional, it would advance to the NCAA Championship, which will be held June 1-4 at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va.