Feb. 10, 2004
CYPRESS, Texas – Despite miserable conditions that included cold temperatures and driving rain, the Notre Dame men’s golf team wrapped up its first spring tournament in strong fashion on Tuesday, carding a final round 303 to tie for second place at the Rice Intercollegiate, which was held at the par-72, 7,301-yard North Course at BlackHorse Golf Club in Cypress, Texas.
The Irish put together a powerful run down the stretch, registering the lowest team scores in each of the final two rounds to surge from ninth to second place and pick up their third top-two finish of the 2003-04 season (and first this spring). Notre Dame wound up with a final score of 36-over par 900 (308-289-303) to tie with Denver, five strokes behind tournament champion (and 46th-ranked) Texas-San Antonio.
“We’re very pleased to come out and play like we did, especially in light of the playing conditions,” Irish head coach John Jasinski said.
“We had to shake off some rust in the opening round, and we’re still making some aggressive mistakes which put us behind the eight-ball early on. But we recovered very well and we can walk away feeling good about our progress to this point.”
Sophomore Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews HS) set the pace for Notre Dame, tying for fourth, his highest placement ever, with a two-over par 216 (78-68-72). It also is the third top-five finish and fourth top-10 showing of Balderston’s young career. Freshman Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) took home eighth-place honors at five-over 221 (75-70-76), collecting his second career top-10 finish.
Sophomore Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) was next on the Irish list of finishers, tying for 33rd place at 16-over par 232 (79-75-78). Sophomore Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie HS) was one stroke behind Baldwin at 233 (76-76-81), tying for 42nd place, while freshman Shane Sigsbee (McKinney, Texas/McKinney HS) shot a 23-over 239 (81-81-77) to finish 63rd overall.
Three other Notre Dame golfers competed as individual performers this week, with their scores not counting towards the Irish team total. Sophomore Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) tied for 56th place at 21-over par 237 (80-80-77), while classmate Daniel Klauer (Granger, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) ended up in a 65th-place tie at 25-over 241 (79-75-87). Senior captain Gavin Ferlic (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian HS) rounded the individual trio, tying for 76th place at 34-over 250 (82-86-82).
Notre Dame returns to action March 1-2 at the Cleveland Golf Classic, hosted by USC. The tournament will take place at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif.
– ND –
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. Texas-San Antonio 895 (298-290-307); 2. (tie) NOTRE DAME 900 (308-289-303) and Denver 900 (290-294-316); 4. North Texas 902 (302-291-309); 5. Stephen F. Austin 911 (309-294-308); 6. Mississippi State 912 (305-293-314); 7. Texas State 915 (298-296-321); 8. Virginia 916 (301-303-312); 9. Louisiana-Lafayette 918 (303-295-320); 10. (tie) San Diego 921 (305-298-318) and Sam Houston State 921 (312-293-316); 12. Rice 922 (309-303-310); 13. Texas-Arlington 926 (310-299-317); 14. Texas-Pan American 953 (312-319-322).
TOP 9 INDIVIDUALS (of 78): 1. Barrett Jarosch (Denver) 215 (71-72-72); 2. Brad Gibson (North Texas) 216 (73-70-73); 3. Mike Mezei (UTSA) 217 (72-72-73); 4. (tie) Tommy Balderston (Notre Dame) 218 (78-68-72) and James Love (Denver) 218 (70-69-79); 6. (tie) Kevin Messer (Texas State) 220 (74-71-75) and Rudy Celedon (UTSA) 220 (72-71-77); 8. Cole Isban (Notre Dame) 221 (75-70-76); 9. Joe Deraney (Mississippi State) 222 (77-71-74).
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 78): 4. (tie) Tommy Balderston 218 (78-68-72); 8. Cole Isban 221 (75-70-76); 33. (tie) Mark Baldwin 232 (79-75-78); 42. (tie) Scott Gustafson 233 (76-76-81); 56. (tie) Eric Deutsch 237* (80-80-77); 63. Shane Sigsbee 239 (81-81-77); 65. (tie) Daniel Klauer 241* (79-75-87); 76. (tie) Gavin Ferlic 250* (82-86-82).
* – competed as individual; score was not applied toward team score