Oct. 10, 2003
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team will be in action Monday-Tuesday, October 13-14, at the 2003 Stonebridge Invitational, hosted by Southern Methodist University. The Irish played in the 2002 Stonebridge Invitational and placed fifth with a score of 873 (289-295-289). The 54-hole tournament will be held at the par 72, 7,247-yard Dye Course at Stonebridge Country Club in McKinney, Texas.
The Irish are coming off a 15th-place tie (with Southern Methodist) at the Windon Memorial Classic in Glenview, Ill. The 17-team field included eight of the top 50 teams in the nation, according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index rankings. Notre Dame shot 909 (301-306-302) as a team and was led by a career-low performance from sophomore Scott Gustafson (Rochester, Minn./Eden Prairie HS). Gustafson shot a score of one-over par 217 (72-73-72), beating his previous best 54-hole total of 219, which he set at the 2002 Kansas Invitational.
Gustafson also played in the 2002 Stonebridge Invitational, shooting 232 (77-71-84), and will be in head coach John Jasinski’s lineup for this fall’s tournament. Two of Gustafson’s classmates will also be participating in their second Stonebridge Invitational, Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St.Andrew’s HS) and Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS). Balderston and Deutsch led the Irish at the ’02 Stonebridge as both golfers fired career-low performances. Balderston finished fifth individually with a three-under par 213 (69-73-71) and Deutsch ended tied for 12th after carding an even-par total of 216 (68-77-71).
Two freshman, Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) and Shane Sigsbee, will round out Jasinski’s lineup for the 2003 Stonebridge Invitational. Sigsbee will be going home for the tournament; the Irish newcomer is from McKinney, Texas, where he attended McKinney High School.
The 2003 Stonebridge Invitational will consist of 36 holes on day one and 18 holes the next day. The tournament will get underway with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. (CDT) on Monday, October 13. Results will be available at the conclusion of play each day at www.und.com.
— ND —