April 8, 2000
HUNTINGTON, W.V. (4/8/00) – The Notre Dame men’s golf team moved up three spots in the standings and ended up just two strokes out of fifth, with a seventh-place finish at the 20-team Marshall Invitational following Saturday’s final round of action at the par-71, 6,446-yard Guyan Golf and Country Club.
Senior Jeff Connell continued his strong career play at the Marshall Invitational by closing with a round of 72 for a 220 total and a share of 11th in the 103-player field. Sophomore Steve Ratay closed with a 74 for a 221 total and 16th-place finish while senior Todd Vernon posted his third straight 75 for a 225 total. Juniors Alex Kent (78/229) and Adam Anderson (79/223) rounded out the Irish contingent.
Notre Dame matched its second-round score by closing with another 299 for an 892 total, just two strokes behind Ohio State and Ohio University.
Michigan held off Miami of Ohio for the team title (877-881) while Iowa’s Matt Stutzman finished atop the individual standings at 214, with four players finishing tied for second at 217.
Connell has averaged 72.7 strokes per round in three career appearances at the Marshall Invitational, including a runner-up finish in 1998 (70-69-70/209).
TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Michigan 288-288-301/877, 2. Miami, Fla. 288-296-297/881, 3. Indiana 297-291-299/887, 4. Iowa 294-291-303/888, 5. Ohio State 293-295-302/890, Ohio 290-298-302/890, 7. Notre Dame 294-299-299/892, 8. Marshall 298-291-306/895, Michigan State 301-289-305/895, 10. Toledo 299-304-296/899, 11. Xavier 307-293-300/900, 12. Wisconsin 285-312-304/901, 13. Eastern Kentucky 297-295-311/903, 14. Western Kentucky 307-301-301/909, 15. Eastern Michigan 301-303-310/914, 16. Kentucky 298-307-314/919, 17. Cincinnati 299-306-317/921, 18. Louisville 302-311-310/923, 19. Illinois 305-308-321/924, 20. Northern Illinois 304-297-DNF.
TOP INDIVIDUALS (of 103): 1. Matt Stutzman (IOWA) 70-70-74/214, 2. Geoff Lound (ILL) 69-70-78/217, Mike Affeldt (MICH) 77-68-72/217, Jon Turcott (WIS) 68-76-73/217, Jeff Ritchey (MIA) 74-70-73/217, 6. Michael Harris (MICH) 67-75-76/218, Dennis Riedel (MSU) 76-70-72/218, 8. Lee Curry (MIA) 74-71-74/219, David Waganseller (OSU) 74-71-74/219, Corey Sullivan (IND) 72-74-73/219.
NOTRE DAME SCORES: 11. Jeff Connell 73-75-72/220, 16. Steve Ratay 73-74-74/221, 35. Todd Vernon 75-75-75/225, 56. Alex Kent 73-78-78/229, 69. Adam Anderson 79-75-79/223.