March 31, 2001
Lexington, Ky. – The Notre Dame men’s golf team closed out play at the Johnny Owens Invitational by firing a 302 for the final 18 holes to finish in 9th place in the 15-team tournament. The Irish finished with a 54-hole total of 896 (298-296-302) which put them 30 strokes behind tournament champion, Miami (OH), as the RedHawks shot an 866 (290-288-288). The tournament was played on the 6,987-yard, par 72 Kearney Hills Golf Club near Lexington, Ky.
The Irish started the day in seventh place after 36 holes and finished just four strokes behind fifth place Kentucky 892 (298-299-295) and Murray State 892 (298-295-299).
Senior Alex Kent (Lambare, Paraguay) led the Irish with a 10th place finish as he shot a 54-hole total of four over par 220 (72-74-74). That put him 13 strokes behind tournament medalist Adam Speirs (Miami, OH) who fired a nine-under par 207 firing sub-par rounds of 70, 69 and 68. Speirs won the tournament by six strokes as five golfers finished at even par or better.
Following Miami in the top five teams were Xavier in second place with an 880 (298-291-291), Western Kentucky in third with a total of 882 (293-287-302) with Eastern Kentucky fourth with a team total of 887 (287-299-301). Kentucky and Murray State tied for fifth with 892 totals.
Following Kent among the Irish golfers was junior Steve Ratay (Arlington Heights, Ill.) who tied for 28th with an eight-over par 224 (75-73-76) which put him four strokes behind Kent.
Sophomore Kyle Monfort (Dublin, Ohio) tied for 42nd with a 54-hole mark of 227 (76-76-75) which was 11-over par. Freshman Peter Rivas (New Orleans, La.) and senior Pat Schaffler (Dallas, Tex.) tied for 54th with 14-over par totals of 230. Rivas had rounds of 79, 73 and 78 while Schaffler turned in rounds of 75, 78 and 77 for the weekend.
The Notre Dame men’s golf team returns to action on April 6-7 at the Marshall Invitational at the Guyan Golf and Country Club in Huntington, West Virginia.
FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals):
1. Miami (OH) 290-288-288-866, 2. Xavier 298-291-291-880, 3. Western Kentucky 293-287-302-882, 4. Eastern Kentucky 287-299-301-887, 5. Kentucky 298-299-295-892, Murray State 298-295-299-892, 7. Ohio University 297-305-292-894, Eastern Michigan 297-295-302-894, 9. Notre Dame 298-296-302-896, 10. Ball State 296-299-309-904, 11. Youngstown State 299-307-299-905, 12. Wright State 305-299-303-907, 13. Marshall University 301-299-308-908, 14. Morehead State 304-301-306-911, 15. Akron 307-308-298-913.
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (of 75):
1. Adam Spiers (Miami, OH) 70-69-68-207, 2. Brian Perry (Marshall) 70-75-68-213, 3. Lee Curry (Miami, OH) 69-75-70-214, 4. Wes Furnish (Kentucky) 71-73-72-216, Eric Mason (Western Kentucky) 71-69-76-216, 6. Matt Kempe (Youngstown State) 69-73-75-217, John Mullendore (Xavier) 73-69-75-219, 8. Jeff Marr (Xavier) 77-74-68-219, Jaysen Hansen (Eastern Michigan) 71-74-74-219, 10. Alex Kent (Notre Dame) 72-74-74-220, Nick Atzinger (Morehead State) 74-73-73-220, Drew Alexander (Eastern Kentucky) 69-75-76-220.
NOTRE DAME SCORES:
t10. Alex Kent 72-74-74-220, t28. Steve Ratay 75-73-76-224, t42. Kyle Monfort 76-76-75-227, t54. Peter Rivas 79-73-78-230, Pat Schaffler 75-78-77-230.