April 25, 2014
NEW LONDON, N.C. – The University of Notre Dame men’s golf team saw two members of its starting lineup better the field scoring average on Friday, leading the Irish to a tie for ninth place after the opening day of the ACC Men’s Golf Championship at the Old North State Club. Notre Dame fired a team score of six-over-par 294 to share the ninth position with national No. 8 Virginia.
Both teams outpointed No. 12 Virginia Tech, who fell out of the top five during the back nine to place 11th after the opening 18 holes with a team score of 298. Notre Dame enters Saturday’s second round six strokes out of second place, currently held by No. 5 Georgia Tech (first round 288).
Senior tri-captain Andrew Lane opened play on Friday with a tremendous front nine flurry, eagling the par 5 first hole to quickly move to two-under-par. Birdies at the par 5 fourth and par 4 sixth holes allowed Lane to make the turn in 32 (-4), holding the tournament lead.
Lane bounced back from four back nine bogies to make par at the 568-yard 18th hole, finishing at one-under 71. Lane’s first round total tied for sixth place to pace all Notre Dame entrants.
Lane’s fellow tri-captain classmate, Niall Platt, made three birdies during his front nine at Old North State Club, and a bogey at the 452-yard ninth hole sent Platt out in two-under 34. Birdies at the 10th and 13th holes brought the Irish senior to four-under-par for the day, before four bogies on his way in dropped Platt to a tie for 15th place after an opening score of even par 72.
Junior Patrick Grahek navigated the four par 5s at Old North State Club in a combined two-under-par, birdieing the 18th hole to close out an opening round of three-over 75. Grahek enters day two tied for 33rd place. Freshman Matt Rushton and sophomore Cory Sciupider tied one another for 43rd place with matching scores of 76 (+4).
No. 19 Florida State holds the overnight lead after opening with a four-under-par team total of 284, the only team effort under par during the first 18 holes of the ACC Championship. No. 32 Clemson is one stroke behind runner-up Georgia Tech at 289 (+1), followed by No. 45 Wake Forrest in fourth place at 290 (+2). Boston College and North Carolina each tied for fifth after logging identical scores of three-over-par 291.
The second round of the 2014 ACC Championship is tentatively scheduled to begin with tee times at 8:30 a.m. (ET) on Saturday at the Old North State Club.
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