With winter weather still present in the Midwest, the Irish took a trip down to Hilton Head Island, S.C. to play the Alumni Match Weekend in order to prepare for the upcoming Schenkel Invitational.
In addition to practicing their golf game at the Sea Pines Resort, the weekend was also an opportunity for the current players to meet and spend time with Irish players of the past, Irish coach Jim Kubinski said.
"There were two things we wanted to accomplish this weekend," Kubinski said. "We wanted to spend some time with our alumni and we did that ... We spent some time talking and just getting to know each other.
"The second thing was to get out on grass, play a little bit, get some rounds in, some holes in and we did that."
While the Irish were not in South Bend, weather was still one obstacle the Irish faced. Severe thunderstorms descended upon Hilton Head Island on Saturday afternoon, forcing the Irish to end their rounds early without finishing the competition.
"[Saturday] we were over at Harbor Town," Kubinski said. "Everyone got at least nine holes in. Some of the groups got a little farther into the back nine, but we actually just canceled the competition because no one was able to finish because of severe thunderstorms."
Amid the changing weather, the level of play among the current Irish golfers also varied depending on the day, Kubinski said.
"We had some really good scores going [Saturday]," Kubinski said. "Chris Walker was four under through 10 holes at Harbor Town. Max [Scodro] was a couple under through 15 holes. We had the boys playing well [Saturday] on the PGA tour course.
"Then [Sunday] we played Heron Point. Scores were actually much higher [Sunday]. We had some high numbers due to high winds, kind of a tough day."
The Irish return to Notre Dame this week to practice before heading back to the Southeast during the spring break. Then, on the last weekend of break, the Irish will play in the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Ga.
"We head down for spring break on Saturday," Kubinski said. "We will spend about three days in the Atlanta area, practicing and playing. Then we will make our way down on Wednesday to the Schenkel to play on the back end of the break. We will be in the same environment — playing in the southeast, playing on the Bermuda grass — just trying to get ready."
Contact Peter Steiner at psteiner@nd.edu
