April 23, 2000
AKRON, Ohio - Senior Todd Vernon (Englewood, Colo.) posted the
10th team-leading finish of his career but the Notre Dame men's golf team
slipped from fifth to a seventh-place finish in a field of 20 teams at the
First Energy Intercollegiate, following final-round action at the par-72,
7,029-yard Firestone Country Club.
Vernon closed with a 75 for a 221 total, earning him a share of 10th in the
100-player field. Vernon has shot 221 or better in 10 career
tournaments-more than any other golfer in Notre Dame history (his classmate
Jeff Connell is next on that list, with six career 54-hole tournaments of
221 or better). Vernon also now owns eight career finishes in the top 10
and 15 in the top 20.
The Irish headed into the final round just four shots out of second place
but closed with a 307 for a 905 total, 12 shots behind sixth-place Toledo.
Ohio State (282-291-296) held off the charging host team Akron
(304-290-280) for the team title, 869-874.
Irish sophomore Steve Ratay posted a final-round 78 for a 226 while Connell
used his best round of the tournament (74) to finish at 230, with juniors
Alex Kent (82-232) and Adam Anderson (80-237) rounding out the five-man
Notre Dame contingent.
Ohio State's David Wagenseller (68-73-73/214) took medalist honors,
claiming a one-stroke victory over Kent's Ben Curtis (74-71-70).
The event served as the final regular-season event during the stellar
careers of Connell and Vernon, with the Irish playing host to the BIG EAST
Championship next week at the new on-campus Warren Golf Course. The winner
of the April 29-30 BIG EAST tournament receives an automatic berth in the
NCAA Championship, with Notre Dame's last NCAA appearance coming in 1966.
NOTES: Vernon has posted the team-best score four times in 1999-2000,
including three of five events during the spring season ... his 10 career
team-leading finishes are tied for third in the Irish record book, trailing
only Pat Mohan (16, 1987-90) and former teammate Bryan Weeks (13, '94-'98)
... Vernon and Connell's legacy includes the following combined totals: 70
intercollegiate tournaments, 192 rounds played, 167 rounds counted to the
team score, 16 team-leading finishes, 12 top-10 finishes and 22 top-20
finishes ... Vernon (75.48) and Connell (75.82) also rank sixth and seventh
on the Notre Dame career stroke average list (Vernon's average ranks
second-best among players in the last 30 years) and they stand No. 1-2
among players with 50-plus career rounds played ... Vernon owns ND's top
stroke average for the spring (75.13) and for all of 1999-2000 (74.15,
third-best in Irish history and best since 1956) ... Connell (75.53) owns
the team's second-best spring average, followed by Ratay (76.73), Kent
(76.93) and Anderson (78.67) ... Vernon leads Ratay by a total of 12
strokes for all of 1999-2000 (74.15 to 74.62) ... other full-season
averages include Connell (75.44) and Anderson (77.26) ... Vernon has
factored in the count-four team score during his last 16 rounds and in 25
of 26 overall in 1999-2000 ... Ratay also has counted in 25 of 26 rounds,
Connell in 21 of 25, Kent in 19 of 26 and Anderson in 14 of 23 ... Ratay
(76.09) remains eighth on the ND career stroke-average list ... Vernon has
counted in 91 of 103 career rounds (88.4 pct., third-best by an ND player
since 1990) while Connell has counted in 76 of 89 (85.4 pct.) ... ND's
1999-2000 season stroke average of 298.39 (per four-man score) is just shy
of the team record of 298.33, set in 1997-98.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (54 holes): 1. Ohio State 282-291-296/869, 2. Kent
304-290-280/874, 3. Purdue 299-299-292/890, Iowa 296-298-296/890, 5.
Wisconsin 304-290-296/890, 6. Toledo 305-293-295/893, 7. Notre Dame
296-302-307/905, 8. Penn State 305-302-299/906, 9. Bowling Green
304-308-296/908, 10. Eastern Michigan 308-300-307/915, 11. Ball State
314-304-298/916, 12. Miami of Ohio 308-307-302/917, 13. Indiana
307-303-309/919, Wright State 303-307-309/919, 15. Northern Illinois
309-313-298/920, Ohio 302-310-311/922, 17. Illinois 309-302-311/922, 18.
Xavier 313-312-303/928, 19. Akron 314-307-315/621, 20. Marquette
323-314-309/946.
TOP INDIVIDUALS (of 100): 1. David Wagenseller (OSU) 68-73-73/214, 2. Ben
Curtis (KENT) 74-71-70/215, 3. Jon Mills (KENT) 73-73-70/216, Mike Austin
(OSU) 70-73-73/216, Lee Williamson (PUR) 78-73-65/216, Jason Olen (OSU)
71-73-72/216, Adam Turner (IOWA) 75-70-71/216, 8. Todd Anderson (WIS)
73-71-73/217, 9. Danny Sahl (KENT) 80-72-66/218, 10. Todd Vernon (ND)
75-71-75/221, David Jones (TOL) 73-70-78/221.
OTHER NOTRE DAME SCORES: 27. Steve Ratay 72-76-78/226, 45. Jeff Connell
77-79-74/230, 60. Alex Kent 74-76-82/232, 80. Adam Anderson 75-82-80/237.
