Doug Fortner paced the Irish at the FAU Spring Break Championship, finishing in a tie for second place with a three-day 209 (-4) score.

Irish Tied For Fourth Place Through Two Rounds At Saint Mary's (Calif.) Invitational

Sept. 29, 2008

36-Hole Tournament Results (PDF) Get Acrobat Reader

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — The Notre Dame men’s golf team finds itself in prime position to contend for its first tournament title since 2006, with the Irish currently tied for fourth place after Monday’s first 36 holes at the Saint Mary’s Invitational, being held on the famed Poppy Hills Golf Course (par 71/6,639 yards) in scenic Pebble Beach, Calif. Holding the lead after the morning round, Notre Dame wound up with a two-round score of 11-over par 579 (288-291), only seven shots back of tournament leader San Francisco heading into Tuesday’s final round at the 17-team event.

Junior Doug Fortner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) also is right in the thick of things on the individual ladder, standing second through 36 holes at three-under par 139 (69-70) despite closing his second round with a pair of bogeys. San Francisco’s Domingo Jojola is the overnight leader at 137 (-5), while each of the top 10 golfers in the 90-man field currently sits at even-par or better.

Fortner is one of five Notre Dame golfers in the top 30 on the leaderboard heading into Tuesday’s action. Sophomore Jeff Chen (Walnut, Calif./Los Altos) is tied for 20th place at four-over par 146 (74-72), while freshman Max Scodro (Chicago, Ill./Notre Dame (Ariz.) Prep) and sophomore Connor Alan-Lee (Solana Beach, Calif./La Jolla Country Day School) both share 29th-place honors at five-over par 147. Scodro opened with a sharp even-par 71 before carding a 76 in the afternoon (taking a quadruple bogey on his opening hole), while Alan-Lee posted rounds of 74 and 73 on Monday.

Playing as an individual competitor, junior Carl Santos-Ocampo (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) joins his teammates in 29th place at five-over par 147 (75-72). Sophomore Tyler Hock (Ocala, Fla./Forest) rounds out the Irish starting lineup in a 67th-place tie at 10-over par 152 (75-77).

Notre Dame will head back to Poppy Hills on Tuesday for the final round of the Saint Mary’s Invitational, which gets underway at 7:30 a.m. (PT) with a shotgun start. Complete results will be posted on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com) and the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000) at the conclusion of the day’s action.

— ND —

Saint Mary’s Invitational
Sept. 29, 2008
Poppy Hills Golf Course (Pebble Beach, Calif.)
Par 71/6,639 yards

36-HOLE TEAM RESULTS: 1. San Francisco 572 (293-279); 2. Cal State Northridge 576 (295-281); 3. Wisconsin 577 (296-281); 4. (tie) NOTRE DAME 579 (288-291) and Texas-Arlington 579 (292-287); 6. UC Santa Barbara 582 (294-288); 7. (tie) UC Riverside 583 (306-277) and Santa Clara 583 (295-288); 9. UC Irvine 586 (297-289); 10. Akron 589 (301-288); 11. Long Beach State 592 (299-293); 12. Gonzaga 593 (296-297); 13. Miami (Ohio) 594 (304-290); 14. Saint Mary’s (Calif.) 595 (306-289); 15. Nebraska 596 (297-299); 16. Saint Mary’s “B” 600 (303-297); 17. Loyola Marymount 602 (306-296).

TOP 4 INDIVIDUAL PLUS NOTRE DAME GOLFERS (of 90): 1. Domingo Jojola (USF) 137 (71-66); 2. Doug Fortner (ND) 139 (69-70); 3. (tie) Robert McRae (SMC) 140 (74-66) and Scott Clayton (UCR) 140 (75-65); 20. (tie) Jeff Chen (ND) 146 (74-72); 29. (tie) Max Scodro (ND) 147 (71-76), Connor Alan-Lee (ND) 147 (74-73) and Carl Santos-Ocampo (ND)* 147 (75-72); 67. (tie) Tyler Hock (ND) 152 (75-77).
* – competing as individual participant (scores not counted to team total)