Josh Sandman broke 70 for the ninth time in his Notre Dame career.

Irish Hold Steady In 12th Place At Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational

March 15, 2008

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STATESBORO, Ga. — Progress and improvement continue to be evident for the Notre Dame men’s golf team, which held its ground and remains tied for 12th place following Saturday’s second round at the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational at the Forest Heights Country Club (par 72/6,962 yards) in Statesboro, Ga.

The Irish posted their best round of the spring season with a six-over par 294 and own a 36-hole score of 591 (+15) that puts Notre Dame in a three-way tie for 12th with No. 15 Michigan State and Minnesota. Nine teams are separated by only eight strokes from places 8-16 in the 18-team field, which contains 12 teams in the top 50 of the latest Golfweek rankings, including seven Top 25 clubs. Second-ranked Alabama owns a two-shot lead on No. 20 South Carolina at 11-under par 565, while Notre Dame leads three ranked teams (No. 38 North Carolina State and No. 46 North Florida, in addition to MSU) and is within five shots of three others (No. 11 Auburn, No. 23 North Carolina and No. 44 Augusta State.

Junior Josh Sandman (Greensboro, N.C./Southeast Guilford) remains the top individual for the Irish this weekend, currently tying for 20th place in the 96-man field at even-par 144 (73-71). The Irish veteran will go into Sunday’s final round only five shots off the lead shared by six golfers, who all have carded scores of five-under par 139 thus far.

Freshman Tyler Hock (Ocala, Fla./Forest) turned in a solid round on Saturday with his second consecutive 74 (+2) and is tied for 41st place overall at four-over par 148. Sophomore Carl Santos-Ocampo (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) is one shot behind Hock in a tie for 49th place at five-over par 149 (76-73), with the second-round score being his best as a member of the Notre Dame travel squad.

Sophomore Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) is another shot back in the pack, tying for 55th place at six-over par 150 (74-76). Freshman Connor Alan-Lee (Solana Beach, Calif./La Jolla Country Day School) matched his opening round score with another 76 (+4) and shares 73rd place at eight-over par 152.

As has been the case in the first two rounds, the Irish will start on the back nine at Forest Heights for Sunday’s final 18 holes, beginning on No. 10 with Alan-Lee the first to go at 8:09 a.m. (ET) and the remaining players going off at nine-minute intervals. Live in-progress scoring will be available via the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com) and final results will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (UND.com) upon completion of the day’s action. Fans also can obtain updates on the Irish at the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational via the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000) and the Irish ALERT text message system (click here for more details).

— ND —

Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational
March 14-15, 2008 — Statesboro, Ga.
Forest Heights Country Club (par 72/6,962 yards)

TEAM RESULTS (36-hole totals): 1. Alabama 565 (285-280); 2. South Carolina 567 (286-281); 3. Florida 569 (290-279); 4. Tennessee 571 (282-289); 5. UAB 575 (286-289); 6. LSU 578 (287-291); 7. Kentucky 583 (294-289); 8. Augusta State 586 (295-291); 9. Auburn 587 (296-291); 10. North Carolina 588 (298-290); 11. Georgia Southern 589 (301-288); 12. (tie) NOTRE DAME 591 (297-294), Michigan State 591 (295-296) and Minnesota 591 (305-286); 15. North Carolina State 592 (296-296); 16. North Florida 594 (303-291); 17. New Mexico 598 (304-294); 18. Boston College 623 (318-305).

TOP SIX INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME FINISHERS (of 96): 1. (tie) Manuel Villegas (UF) 139 (72-67), Billy Horschel (UF) 139 (72-67), Brad Smith (UAB) 139 (70-69), Zach Sucher (UAB) 139 (68-71), George Bryan IV (SC) 139 (73-66) and Matthew Swan (UA) 139 (71-68); 20. (tie) Josh Sandman (ND) 144 (73-71); 41. (tie) Tyler Hock (ND) 148 (74-74); 49. (tie) Carl Santos-Ocampo (ND) 149 (76-73); 55. (tie) Doug Fortner (ND) 150 (74-76); 73. (tie) Connor Alan-Lee (ND) 152 (76-76).