CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – It was a tale of two halves for the University of Notre Dame men’s golf team on Saturday at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate. The Fighting Irish improved by 18 strokes from round one to round two, jumping seven spots in the standings to fifth place.
After the first round, Notre Dame was in 12th place with a 302 (+14). The Fighting Irish then rebounded in a major way with a 284 (-4) in round two, which marked the lowest team score in the round – topping No. 13 North Florida by two strokes.
Notre Dame will now be paired with Kansas State and Michigan State on Sunday, with the first group teeing off at 8:45 a.m. ET. Only four strokes separate the Irish from another top three finish.
ROUND ONE
Miguel Delgado and Ben Albin each shot a 75 (+3) in the opening round. Delgado was two-over par through the first eight holes, before parring nine of the last 10. Albin was one-under through eight before suffering a momentum hit with double-bogey on nine and bogey on ten. Albin later went bogey, par, birdie, bogey, par on the last five holes.
In addition, freshmen Andrew O’Leary and Taichi Kho each notched a 76 (+4). Each went two-over on both the front and back, with Kho tallying three birdies for the round.
ROUND TWO
Delgado fired off an impressive 67 (-5), which was the lowest individual score among all competitors in round two. The senior recorded four birdies through the first 15 holes, with the only hiccup being a bogey on the par-3 12th. Delgado then capped his big round with an eagle on the par-5 17th.
As a result, Delgado leaped 29 spots in the individual standings into a tie for sixth place. Delgado enters the final round with a 142 (-2), just five strokes back from the leader, Adrien Dumont de Chassart of Illinois.
Both O’Leary and Albin finished at even-par. O’Leary started hot with a birdie on one, followed by eight straight pars, before suffering back-to-back bogeys on 10 and 11. O’Leary rebounded with a birdie on 13 to card his 72. Meanwhile, Albin went even-par on both the front and back, carding a birdie/bogey on each side.
Davis Lamb rounded out the team scoring in round two with a 73 (+1). Lamb went two-over par on the front before tallying a clean slate on the back, with a birdie on 14.
— ND —