April 2, 2005
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Playing in extremely windy conditions, the Notre Dame men’s golf team carded a 22-over par 310 and stands in fifth place after the first round of the Augusta State Invitational, presented by Administaff, which began Saturday at the Forest Hills Golf Club (par 72/7,231 yards) in Augusta, Ga. The Irish are seven strokes behind tournament leader East Tennessee State in the high-powered 18-team field that includes nine nationally-ranked teams. The winds led to the postponement of Saturday afternoon’s second round, which will be played beginning at 8 a.m. (ET) Sunday.
Sophomores Shane Sigsbee (McKinney, Texas/McKinney HS) and Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) each fired a four-over par 76 to tie for 11th place in the 90-man field and set the pace for Notre Dame on Saturday. Sigsbee’s round was highlighted by an even-par 36 on the front nine.
Meanwhile, junior Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) shot a six-over par 78 to tie for 22nd place. Baldwin actually was at two-under par through five holes and remained at even par with five holes to play. However, he closed his round with a double bogey, triple bogey and bogey on holes No. 10-12 (the 14th-16th holes of his round).
Freshman Greg Rodgers (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul’s School) ended up at eight-over par 80, putting him tied for 47th place overall. Rodgers had a similar round to Baldwin, getting to even par through his first seven holes. Rodgers’ round then turned in a four-hole stretch from No. 4-7 (his eighth-11th holes) when he registered three bogeys and a triple bogey.
Junior Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) completed the Irish scoring with a 10-over par 82, tying for 69th place. Gustafson was hampered by three double bogeys in an eight-hole stretch midway through his first tour of the course.
Despite the difficult weather conditions, Notre Dame leads several nationally-ranked teams, including No. 8 Wake Forest (tie-13th overall), No. 10 Southern California (tie-11th), No. 14 Duke (10th), No. 19 Clemson (17th), No. 20 South Carolina (tie-7th), No. 22 Minnesota (tie-15th) and No. 25 Alabama (6th). In addition, the Irish are one stroke behind Georgia, currently the nation’s third-ranked team and recipient of two first-place votes in the latest Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA)/Bridgestone Coaches’ Poll.
Notre Dame will return to the links Sunday for the second and third rounds of the Augusta State Invitational. Live scoring is available for the tournament via the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com), and complete final results will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com) as well as the Notre Dame sports hotline (574-631-3000).
— ND —
AUGUSTA STATE INVITATIONAL, PRESENTED BY ADMINISTAFF
April 2, 2005
Forest Hills Golf Club (par 72/7,231 yards)
Augusta, Ga.
FIRST ROUND TEAM SCORES
1. East Tennessee State 303; 2. Augusta State 304; 3. Georgia Southern 305; 4. Georgia 308; 5. NOTRE DAME 310; 6. Alabama 311; 7. (tie) North Florida and South Carolina 314; 9. UCF (Central Florida) 315; 10. Duke 316; 11. (tie) Southern California and North Carolina 317; 13. (tie) Toledo and Wake Forest 318; 15. (tie) Minnesota and North Carolina State 320; 17. Clemson 321; 18. Virginia Tech 322.
FIRST ROUND INDIVIDUAL SCORES (top four plus Irish players)
1. Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State) 70; 2. (tie) Scott Jamieson (Augusta State) and Chris Kirk (Georgia) 72; 4. Thomas Hagler (Alabama) 74; 11. (tie) Shane Sigsbee and Cole Isban (Notre Dame) 76; 22. (tie) Mark Baldwin (Notre Dame) 78; 47. (tie) Greg Rodgers (Notre Dame) 80; 69. (tie) Scott Gustafson (Notre Dame) 82.