Feb. 23, 2015
VALENCIA, Calif. – The University of Notre Dame men’s golf team resumed its 2014-15 season on Monday, completing the first two rounds of the Jones Invitational at the Valencia Country Club. Following an opening round seven-over-par 295, the Irish carded an afternoon score of 307 to tie for 13th place after 36 holes of play at 602.
Southern California built on a first round 11-under-par 277 with an afternoon even par 288, taking the outright lead by six strokes at 565. Kennesaw State checked in with a second place effort at 571 (282-289, -5), with Winthrop as the only other team under par in third place (289-285=574, -2).
Senior Patrick Grahek birdied three straight holes early in his first round, notching a three at the fourth, fifth and sixth holes to move to three-under-par. Birdies at the par 5 18th and first holes offset three bogeys and a double bogey the remainder of the round for Grahek, giving the Alpharetta, Georgia native a score of even par 72.
Grahek added a pair of birdies at the par 3 third hole and par 4 fifth hole to kick start his afternoon 18, but subsequent dropped shots shifted his round score to five-over-par 77. Grahek paced all Notre Dame finishers on day one with a 36-hole score of 149 (72-77) and a share of 39th place.
Following a first round two-over-par 74 that included two birdies, sophomore Blake Barens bounced back from an early triple bogey in his afternoon round to finish one-over-par in his final 15 holes, posting a four-over-par 76 to tie for 44th place at 150 (76-74).
Senior Tyler Wingo notched two birdies during his front nine in round one on Monday, rolling in a four at the par 5 first and ninth holes as part of an outward score of one-under 35. A three-over-par stretch on the back nine scaled back the Fairfax, Virginia native’s score to 74 (+2). Wingo finished the opening day of play tied for 46th at 151 (74-77).
Sophomore Liam Cox logged a total of three birdies during his opening two rounds of the Jones Invitational, tying for 62nd place at 154 (77-77). Classmate Matthew Rushton rolled in an eagle at the par 5 ninth hole in the morning 18, finishing the round three-under-par on the Valencia Country Club par 5 holes. Rushton could not build on the momentum, ultimately finishing in a tie for 72nd place at 157 (75-82).
The third and final round of the Jones Invitational is scheduled to begin with tee times off the first and 10th tees on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. (PT). Live round results will be available through BirdieFire.com.
Jones Invitational-Valencia Country Club-Par-72, 7,019 Yds.
TEAMS (After Round 2): 1. Southern California 277-288=565, -11; 2. Kennesaw State 282-289=571, -5; 3. Winthrop 289-285=574, -3; 4. Northwestern 288-290=578, +2; T5. Sam Houston State 289-294=583, +7; T5. BYU 289-294=583, +7; 7. Pepperdine 297-287=584, +8; 8. UC Irvine 299-287=586, +10; 9. Fresno State 301-289=590, +14; 10. San Diego 295-297=592, +16; 11. Georgia State 289-305=594, +18; 12. Lipscomb 304-291=595, +19; T13. Notre Dame 295-307=602, +26; T13. Pacific 303-299=602, +26; 15. South Carolina Upstate 304-306=610, +34.
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (After Round 2): T39. Patrick Grahek 72-77=149, +5; T44. Blake Barens 74-76=150, +6; T46. Tyler Wingo 74-77=151, +7; T62. Liam Cox 77-77=154, +16; T72. Matthew Rushton 75-82=157, +13.