Oct. 14, 2013
CARMEL, Ind. – University of Notre Dame men’s golf sophomore Cory Sciupider birdied four of his final nine holes Monday to card a second round one over par 73 to close the first day of play at the Indiana University Crooked Stick Intercollegiate at the Crooked Stick Golf Club.
Notre Dame placed eighth on day one after firing a combined team score of 610 (306-304). The Irish enter the tournament’s third and final round six shots out of the field’s top five.
“I was proud of the way Cory put a couple early digits behind him and played some excellent golf,” Irish head coach Jim Kubinski said. “He made a double and triple in his first six holes, then played the final 30 holes of the day at +1. Given the field average of just over 76.8 today, he did a great job.
“He is growing in that way. Shaking off an early rough patch is something some young guys struggle with.”
Sciupider bounced back from a five over par 77 in his first round with birdies at the par 4 fourth, seventh and eighth holes during his second 18. A fourth birdie of the round at the 540-yard 11th hole helped cap off Sciupider’s second round (77-73-150, +6) in a tie for 19th place.
Freshman Liam Cox was tied for sixth among all players in the field in par 4 scoring at even par after his opening 36 holes, claiming a share of 24th place at 151 (75-76). Cox’s eight birdies for the day were actually tied for the third-most in the field, just behind the 10 each for tournament leader Sebastian Cappelen (Arkansas) and second place player Nicholas Reach (Georgia).
Senior Niall Platt navigated the par 5s at Crooked Stick in two under par, leading the Irish tri-captain to a tie for 34th place after rounds of 75-78 (153). Junior Tyler Wingo (79-77-156, tie for 51st place) and freshman Matt Rushton (79-78-157, tie for 55th place) rounded out the Notre Dame lineup.
“I think our whole team played very good stretches of golf but then paid dearly for the few mistakes we made,” Kubinski said. “We hit about 80 percent of our shots on the button, but those other 20 percent cost us today. We can move up the board by executing shots at the level we’re capable of.”
Georgia, the current sixth ranked team in the country, took the overnight lead with a team score of 585 (295-290). No. 31 Florida State is in second place at 588 (292-296), with No. 44 Purdue checking in with a score of 589 (295-294) for third place. No. 25 Arkansas improved by 21 strokes from round one to round two (306-285-591) to claim fourth place, while No. 45 Florida and No. 50 Indiana are tied for fifth at 604.
“Our motto this season is, `Master the Simple,'” Kubinski said. “We didn’t do that today. Still we’re only six back of Florida and host Indiana for a strong top-five finish. We just need to go out and improve inside 150 yards tomorrow.”
The final round of the Crooked Stick Intercollegiate is scheduled to begin Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. Live results will be available at golfstatresults.com.
Crooked Stick Intercollegiate-Crooked Stick Golf Club-Par-72, 7,290 Yds.
TOP-10 TEAMS (After Round 2): 1. #6 Georgia 295-290-585, +9; 2. #31 Florida State 292-296-588, +12; 3. #44 Purdue 295-294-589, +13; 4. #25 Arkansas 306-285-591, +15; T5. #45 Florida 300-304-604, +28; T5. #50 Indiana 299-305-604, +28; 7. TCU 305-301-606, +30; 8. Notre Dame 306-304-610, +34; 9. Eastern Michigan 310-305-615, +39; 10. Toledo 303-313-616, +40.
TOP-10 INDIVIDUALS (After Round 2): 1. Sebastian Cappelen (Arkansas) 70-71-141, -3; 2. Nicholas Reach (Georgia) 73-70-143, -1; T3. Rowin Caron (Florida State) 74-71-145, +1; T3. Austin Eoff (Purdue) 71-74-145, +1; 5. Jack Maguire (Florida State) 70-76-146, +2; T6. Keegan McKinney (Ball State) 76-71-147, +3; T6. Hugo Menendez (Indiana) 76-71-147, +3; T6. Keith Mitchell (Georgia) 74-73-147, +3; T6. Adam Schenk (Purdue) 74-73-147, +3; T6. JD Tomlinson (Florida) 72-75-147, +3.
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (After Round 2): T19. Cory Sciupider 77-73-150, +6; T24. Liam Cox 75-76-151, +7; T34. Niall Platt 75-78-153, +9; T51. Tyler Wingo 79-77-156, +12; T55. Matt Rushton 79-78-157, +13.
–ND–
— Tony Jones, Athletic Media Relations Assistant