Before the start of the Gridiron Golf Classic at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course, Irish coach Jim Kubinski said he hoped his team would enter the final day of the event as one the top three squads. And although the Irish sit 19 strokes behind the leader - Lamar University - they enter today's final round in the last pairing of the tournament.
"The leader is a long way off," senior captain Cole Isban said. "We probably won't win but second place isn't bad."
Lamar entered the event as the No. 24 team in the GCAA/Bridgestone Top 25 poll. They may, however, be better than that ranking would indicate.
"They're a Top 10 team in the country and they played like it," Isban said. "That's just a really good team."
Notre Dame finished the first two rounds at 26-over par with Isban leading the charge. After carding a 2-under par first round, the senior finished the day with a 1-over 141.
"I played really well in the morning but made some errant shots in the afternoon," said Isban, who is currently in fourth place among individual players.
He trails sophomores Oliver Bekker and Justin Harding of Lamar, as well as Vanderbilt senior Luke List. Bekker and Harding went into the clubhouse with matching 2-under par scores after the first day while List shot minus-1 on the day.
Notre Dame sophomore Josh Sandman recorded a 6-over par total and currently sits in a tie for sixth place overall. Freshman Carl Santos-Ocampo (+8), senior Adam Gifford (+9), freshman Doug Fortner (+10), and junior Mike King (+16) rounded out Notre Dame's top five.
Florida Sate trails Notre Dame by five strokes heading into the final round, while Baylor and Augusta State are tied for fourth place with 40-over-par total scores. The Irish must play well again if they hope to finish in the top two on their home course.
"We've definitely got some work to do," Isban said.
