Junior Eric Deutsch posted his second consecutive top-20 finish with a 12th-place tie at the Notre Dame Invitational & Central Regional Preview.  The Rochester, Minn., native has a 73.83 stroke average through two events this year, besting his previous career average by nearly 2.5 strokes.

Men's Golf Plays Host To Notre Dame Invitational & Central Regional Preview This Weekend

Sept. 16, 2004

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the first time in 17 years, the Notre Dame men’s golf team will play host to a regular-season tournament with this weekend’s revival of the Notre Dame Invitational. The tournament is jointly being tabbed as the Central Regional Preview, serving as a sneak peek at the course before the top teams in the region return to South Bend next May for the NCAA Central Regional tournament. Fourteen other squads will join the Irish in the Notre Dame Invitational, which tees off Friday morning at Lost Dunes Golf Club in Bridgman, Mich., before returning to the Warren Golf Course on the Notre Dame campus for the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.

Dates and Times: Teams will play 18 holes per day during the three-day tournament. Friday’s opening round will begin at 9 a.m. (EDT) from Lost Dunes Golf Club in Bridgman, Mich., with teams starting from the first and 10th tees and going at eight-minute intervals (Notre Dame golfers will begin teeing off from No. 1 at 9:40 a.m. EDT). Saturday’s second round starts at 8 a.m. (EST/CDT) from Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course, with teams once again going off from the first and 10th tees. Sunday’s final round begins with an 8:30 a.m. (EST/CDT) shotgun start, also from the Warren Golf Course. Pairings for the final two rounds will be determined based on the team scores at the completion of the previous round.

The Courses: The first round of the Notre Dame Invitational will be contested at Lost Dunes Golf Club in Bridgman, Mich., located near the southeastern coast of Lake Michigan and approximately 45 minutes from South Bend. The course has been ranked No. 41 on Golfweek magazine’s list of the best modern courses in the country and it will present a challenge because of its proximity to Lake Michigan and the shifting weather patterns that can develop from that locale. This weekend, Lost Dunes will play as a par-70, 6,875-yard layout with five par-three holes and three par-five holes on the course.

The second and third rounds of the Notre Dame Invitational will be held on the Notre Dame campus at the Warren Golf Course. Hailed as one of the nation’s best new courses by Golf Digest, and recently tabbed as the No. 12 collegiate circuit in the country by Golfweek, the Warren is designed by the team of Bill Coore and PGA Tour veteran Ben Crenshaw in a classic style reminiscent of the great courses in the early 1900s that were based on subtleties, rather than special effects. Winding its way through more than 250 wooded acres, the course will play this weekend as a par-70, 7,011-yard layout that features just two par-five and four par-three holes on the circuit.

Tickets/Credentials: Admission to the Notre Dame Invitational at both the Lost Dunes Golf Club and Warren Golf Course is free to the public on all three days of competition. Media members wishing to cover the Notre Dame Invitational do not need to obtain credentials for the event. However, all patrons in attendance (media and fans) are asked to respect the rules of golf etiquette at all times. Notre Dame assistant sports information director Chris Masters will be on hand throughout the tournament to assist media members with any interview requests or other needs they might have.

The Teams: A total of 15 teams will make up the field at the 2004 Notre Dame Invitational & Central Regional Preview. In addition to the host school, the other participating teams include: Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa State, Kent State, Michigan State, Missouri, Northwestern, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tulsa and Xavier. Two of these teams are appearing the preseason Golfweek top 30 rankings — No. 24 Texas A&M and No. 25 SMU. Meanwhile, SMU also is ranked 25th in the preseason Golfworld coaches’ poll, and several teams in this weekend’s field were receiving votes in that same balloting (Texas A&M – tie-30th if the poll were extended; Colorado – 34th; Arkansas – 38th; Texas Tech – tie-41st; Toledo – tie-41st; Indiana – 43rd).

Notre Dame Invitational History: Although the Notre Dame Invitational has not been contested in 17 years, it was a regular feature on the college golf circuit from 1968-87. During that span, the tournament was held 18 times (starting in the spring before moving to the fall) and taking breaks only in the spring of 1974, the fall of 1978 and the fall of 1980. Throughout its history, the Notre Dame Invitational was held at the Burke Memorial Golf Course, located on the Notre Dame campus. That circuit, which was an 18-hole layout, was converted to a nine-hole course when new Warren Golf Course was constructed on the north end of the Notre Dame campus in 2000.

As one might expect, Notre Dame has enjoyed a great deal of success in its own tournament. The Irish have won the tourney crown eight times and finished second on four occasions in the 18 previous events, with their last championship coming in 1986. Dayton took home the last Notre Dame Invitational title in 1987.

Tournament Results: Results from the Notre Dame Invitational will be available on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com) upon completion of action on all three days of the tournament. Scoring updates from the tournament also will be posted on the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000, selection #9) as they are available.

Irish Lineup: Notre Dame will roll out a very young lineup for this weekend’s tournament, as two sophomores and two freshman highlight the Irish quintet. Sophomore Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) was second on the team in stroke average (75.24) last year and he began this season with a 13-over par 226 and a 25th-place finish at the Inverness Intercollegiate last weekend. Meanwhile, junior Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) will be the veteran member of the Notre Dame lineup; the all-BIG EAST selection anchored the Irish at last year’s NCAA Central Regional and placing 17th at the Inverness Intercollegiate with a 10-over par 223. Freshman Greg Rodgers (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul’s) got his first taste of collegiate action last weekend at Inverness with a tie for 31st place at 15-over par 228, while fellow rookie Mike King (Sidney, Ohio/Sidney) is coming off a strong showing at the BGSU/John Piper Intercollegiate earlier this week, tying or seventh place after firing a two-under par 214 that included an opening-round 68. Sophomore Shane Sigsbee (McKinney, Texas/McKinney) joined King at the BGSU tourney and was part of a three-way tie for fourth place at three-under par 213 after registering a second-round 68.

In addition to the five starters, five other Notre Dame golfers will compete as individuals at this weekend’s tournament. Junior Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) tied for 47th place at 21-over par 234 last week at Inverness, while classmate Tommy Balderston (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews), another returning all-conference pick, makes his 2004-05 debut this week. Senior co-captain K.C. Wiseman (South Bend, Ind./Riley) is hoping to build on his third-place finish at this summer’s South Bend Metro Championship, while junior Daniel Klauer (Granger, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) showed promise with a 79.22 stroke average last year. Senior co-captain Steve Colnitis (Baldwin, Md./St. Paul’s) rounds out the corps of Irish individuals.

Last Tournament: Notre Dame held its position on the final day of the Inverness Intercollegiate, finishing in a tie for fifth place at the 13-team tournament which was held Sept. 10-11. The Irish were particularly consistent during the third round, as all four golfers whose scores counted carded four-over par 75s, giving Notre Dame a three-day score of 42-over par 894 (294-300-300). Kentucky won the tournament by eight strokes, shooting a 25-over par 877 at the famed Inverness Club (par-71, 7,255 yards) in Toledo, Ohio.

It was a strong opening tournament for Notre Dame, competing in an event that included 10 of 13 teams which reached the NCAA Regionals last season. In addition, the Irish registered their best-ever finish and single-round scores at this year’s Inverness Intercollegiate. In two previous appearances, Notre Dame had not placed higher than 14th and its lowest team score was 307, a mark the Irish topped in all three rounds this weekend.

Juniors Scott Gustafson (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) and Eric Deutsch (Rochester, Minn./Lourdes) shared team-high scoring honors, tying for 17th place at 10-over par 223. Gustafson carded rounds of 73-75-75 to log the 12th team-best tournament finish of his career, which is fourth in school history. Meanwhile, Deutsch stumbled a bit in the final round, posting rounds of 69-75-79 after entering the day in a fourth-place tie.

Sophomore Cole Isban (South Bend, Ind./Mishawaka Marian) was tied for 25th place with a 13-over par 226 (78-73-75), while freshman Greg Rodgers (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul’s) rose to a 31st-place draw at 15-over 228 (74-79-75). Junior Mark Baldwin (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton Prep) completed the Notre Dame lineup, improving each round to end up in a 47th-place deadlock at 21-over par 234 (82-77-75).

Notre Dame Announces 2004-05 Fall Schedule: Fresh off a BIG EAST Conference championship and its first NCAA postseason berth since 1966, Notre Dame has put together a 2004-05 challenging schedule, one that includes four tournaments which the Irish will host (three at the Warren Golf Course on the Notre Dame campus). For the third consecutive year, the Irish open at the Inverness Intercollegiate before returning home for a revival of the Notre Dame Invitational & Central Regional Preview Sept. 17-19. Notre Dame then will take part in the Windon Memorial Classic outside Chicago in early October before venturing to the West Coast for a pair of tournaments at Stanford and PGA West in Palm Springs to close out the fall schedule. The spring 2005 ledger for the Irish will be released at a later date — it is awaiting approval from the University Faculty Board on Athletics.

Head Coach John Jasinski: Now in his fourth season at Notre Dame, head coach John Jasinski has the Irish pointed squarely in the direction of championship gold. In his first three years under the Golden Dome, Jasinski has guided Notre Dame to a BIG EAST Championship (first since 1997 and fourth in program history) and its first NCAA postseason appearance since 1966 (where the Irish finished in 12th place, four strokes shy of advancing to the NCAA finals). He also has been responsible for helping his charges post three of the top eight single-season team stroke averages in school history. In addition, under Jasinski’s watch, Notre Dame won two tournaments in 2003-04, their first titles of any kind since the 1999-2000 campaign — besides the BIG EAST win, an Irish lineup with three sophomores and two freshmen paced Notre Dame to its first tournament title of any kind since 1999 with a one-stroke win at the SMU/Stonebridge Invitational last October.

Prior to his arrival at Notre Dame, Jasinski spent nine seasons as the head coach at Toledo, leading the Rockets to four consecutive trips in the NCAA regionals, including three berths in the NCAA Championship from 1999-2001.

Next For The Irish: Notre Dame will take the next two weeks off before traveling to suburban Chicago Oct. 4-5 for the Windon Memorial Classic, hosted by Northwestern. The Irish will be making their second consecutive appearance at the Wildcats’ tournament, having tied for 15th place in 2003. This year’s event will take place at the Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Ill.

— ND —