Feb. 20, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team begins its spring schedule when the Irish travel to Tampa, Fla., to participate in the Ron Smith Invitational at the University of South Florida Feb. 22-24.
The 54-hole tournament will be played at the par-71, 6,800-yard University of South Florida Golf Course known as “The Claw.” The 18-team field will play 18 holes per day over the course of the weekend with a practice day on Thursday.
The tourney field is made up of schools from the South as well as the Midwest. Joining Notre Dame and the University of South Florida in the field are: Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Central Florida, Columbus State, DePaul, Florida Atlantic, Florida Southern, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville State, Marquette, Memphis, Middle Tennessee State, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Tennesse-Chattanooga and Troy State.
Coach John Jasinski will use Thursday’s practice round to decide his fifth golfer on the weekend. Leading the Irish will be senior captain Steve Ratay (Arlington Heights, Ill.) who finished the fall with a team-best 72.80 average. In 30 career tournaments, Ratay ranks fifth all-time at Notre Dame with a 74.82 career average.
Junior Brandon Lunke (San Antonio, Texas) is the number two golfer for the Irish after recording a 73.86 average for the fall.
Freshmen Ryan Marshall (Marco Island, Fla.) and Steve Colnitis (Baldwin, Md.) are the number three and four golfers for the weekend after recording 75.28 and 76.13 averages respectively in three fall tournaments each.
Senior Chris Whitten (Rockford, Mich.) and sophomore Gavin Ferlic (South Bend, Ind.) will battle in an 18-hole playoff in Thursday’s practice round to decide the spot on the five-man roster for the Ron Smith Invitational. Whitten played in three tournaments in the fall and had a 77.00 average. Ferlic saw action in one fall tournament and had a 77.67 average.