April 26, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team has added a tournament to their 2002 spring schedule as the Irish travel to East Lansing, Mich., to participate in the Bruce Fossum/Taylor Made Invitational. The 15-team tournament will be held at Michigan State’s par 72, 7,003-yard Forest Akers West Course.
The 54-hole tournament will feature 36 holes of play on Saturday, April 27 with the final 18 holes to be played on Sunday, April 28. Both days will feature shotgun starts beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday and 9:00 a.m. on Sunday.
Joining Notre Dame and the host school Michigan State in the tournament lineup are: Eastern Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kent State, Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Texas-Arlington, Toledo, Wisconsin and Xavier.
Notre Dame is coming off a second-place finish at the BIG EAST Championship last weekend at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course. The Irish turned in their lowest 54-hole total of the spring as they fired rounds of 297, 289 and 296 on the way to an 882 total that put them 17 strokes behind tournament champion Virginia Tech.
Coach John Jasinski will have a pair of all-BIG EAST golfers in the lineup at Michigan State as senior Steve Ratay (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and freshman Ryan Marshall (Marco Island, Fla.) finished in the tournament’s top seven golfers. Ratay finished in a tie for second with a five-over par 215, four strokes behind Virginia Tech’s Johnson Wagner. On the year, Ratay has six top 10 finishes and will bring a Notre Dame record 72.69 average into the tournament.
Marshall turned in his best performance of his young career at the BIG EAST as he was sixth, with an eight-over par 218 after rounds of 73, 72 and 73. The freshman has a 76.45 average in 20 rounds this season.
Also going to the Michigan State Invitational are sophomore William McCaughan (So., Key Biscayne, Fla.), junior Brandon Lunke (San Antonio, Texas) and freshman K.C. Wiseman (South Bend, Ind.).
McCaughan was the surprise of the BIG EAST Championship as he finished 10th while playing his first career tournament as a member of the Irish scoring five. After a slow start in the first round (41 after first nine holes), McCaughan shot a 35 on the back nine for an opening round 76 and followed that with rounds of 73 and 74 for a 223. In two tournaments this season, the sophomore has a 76.00 average.
Lunke and Wiseman did not play in the BIG EAST Championship and qualified this week for duty at Michigan State. Lunke ranks fifth on the team with a 76.80 average and his last outing came on April 5-6 at the Marshall Invitational. Wiseman is fourth overall with a 76.65 average and he also last appeared at the Marshall Invitational.