Freshman Cory Sciupider shot a tournament-low five-under par, 67 in his second round Saturday

Irish Rebound In Second Round At Hawkeye Invitational

April 13, 2013

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IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Notre Dame men’s golf team shaved 18 strokes off its opening round score of 310 to post a second round 292 (310-292-602) and tie for eighth place Saturday at the Hawkeye – Great River Entertainment Invitational at the Finkbine Golf Course.

“We played poorly as a team this morning but I was happy to see us bounce back in the afternoon,” Irish head coach Jim Kubinski said. “292 was a solid score.”

Notre Dame freshman Cory Sciupider bounced back from a first round score of 80 to shoot a tournament-low five-under par, 67 during his second 18. Sciupider birdied six holes in round two, including three of his final four holes, to claim a share of 13th place at three-over par (80-67-147).

“Cory’s six birdies really carried us,” Kubinski said. “His only bogey was a three-putt. I thought he hit the ball really well this morning going out but was just on the wrong side a bit and made some bogies, which was easy to do with a wind chill of 25 degrees when we started.”

Junior Niall Platt fired back-to-back rounds of one-over, 73 to lead all Irish players in a tie for 10th place (73-73-146, +2) after the opening day of play. Platt birdied the par-4 7th and par-3 8th holes to come in with a 34 on his back nine.

“Niall did a beautiful job in both rounds finishing on the course’s front nine with several birdies,” Kubinski said. “73-73 in the windy and cold conditions was pretty solid. He stayed very positive when over par, which is what we’ve committed to.”

Junior Andrew Lane carded rounds of 77-76-153 to claim a share of 44th place, while sophomore Tyler Wingo logged a cumulative 156 (80-76, tied for 55th place). Senior Paul McNamara III completed his day in a tie for 60th place (81-78-159).

Kansas takes an eight-shot lead into the final round after carding a combined 576 (286-290). Iowa is in solo second place (294-290-584), followed by Minnesota in third place at 586 (293-293). Nebraska (290-297-587) and Charlotte (302-288-590) are in the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

The third and final round of the Hawkeye – Great River Entertainment Invitational is scheduled for a 9 a.m. (CT) shotgun start Sunday.

–ND–