March 17, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The 27th-ranked University of Notre Dame men’s golf team is set to return to stroke play tournament action this weekend when it takes part in the 32nd annual Schenkel Invitational Friday-Sunday at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga. The Irish enter the weekend with a record of 59-6 on the season.
Forest Heights Country Club shapes up as a par-72, 6,962-yard course. Along with playing host to the Schenkel Invitational it also carries the Annual Southeastern Amateur Golf Tournament and has hosted the SEC Tournament in years past.
This will not be the first action for the Irish during the spring, as they have participated in three events to-date. This will, however, mark the first stroke play tournament that the squad has played since returning from the winter.
The spring docket got underway for the Irish at The Match Play (Feb. 11-12), where they earned a fifth-place result after going 2-1 on the weekend. After battling former alumni of the Notre Dame program to get March underway (March 5), the Irish faced Yale in a 36-hole heads-up match that saw the Bulldogs hold on for a 606-607 victory (March 14).
The Schenkel Invitational marks a return to the customary collegiate tournament that will see all teams compete in a 54-hole tournament with 18 holes being played on each day of competition, barring weather issues.
Dubbed by Golf World as the “Collegiate Championship of the East,” the Schenkel Invitational features another championship-caliber field from across the country. The 2011 field includes Auburn, Florida, host Georgia Southern, Kentucky, LSU, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, N.C. State, North Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Virginia along with the Irish.
Florida leads the field in the current Golfweek/Sargarin poll in fifth place. Auburn, the 2010 winner, ranks ninth with LSU in 12th place. Virginia and N.C. State round out the teams in the top 25, ranked 19th and 20th place, respectively. Georgia Southern, North Florida and Tennessee join Florida, Auburn and Virginia as participants in last year’s NCAA Championship.
The tournament sets up as a guidepost of sorts for teams in the field. Through it’s 31-year history, six teams as well as three individuals have won the tournament en route to capturing the NCAA team and individual titles. Matt Hill of N.C. State was the most recent golfer to accomplish the feat, winning both titles in 2009.
Last year, the Auburn Tigers overcame a seven-shot deficit entering the final round to capture the team title, while Mississippi’s Jonathan Randolph won individual medalist honors after birdying the first playoff hole.
While not competing in the tournament last season, this will mark Notre Dame’s third appearance at the Schenkel Invitational in the last four years. The squad’s best finish came back in ’08 when they finished the 54-hole event in a tie for 12th place with Auburn at 888 (+24).
Live scoring of the Schenkel Invitational is available at www.golfstat.com. Fans may also follow the Schenkel Invitational at twitter.com/SchenkelInvite. Also be sure to check back with und.com daily for round-by-round recaps of the Irish at the tournament.
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