The Notre Dame men’s golf team traveled to La Quinta, California, this week to compete against 15 programs in The Prestige Presented by Charles Schwab. The starting five for the Irish finished with a combined score of 890, good for 38 strokes over par and a 12th-place finish.
Freshman Taichi Kho paced the Irish, shooting a three-round 219, good for six strokes over par and a 24th-place individual finish. Kho, a freshman from Hong Kong, labored to a first-round score of 78 on Monday, but rebounded to post an even-par 71 on Tuesday. He finished the week with a one-under-par 70 on Wednesday to climb 20 spots in the standings and clinch the second top-25 finish of his career.
On Monday, Notre Dame entered the club house tied for 10th place with a five-man score of 297 strokes. Davis Lamb got off to a strong start, surging to a first-round score of 69 strokes. Senior Miguel Delgado scored a first-round 73, good for second-best on the team.
Following a team-best first-round score, Lamb added 10 strokes to his round on Tuesday. The junior from Potomac, Maryland, posted a 79 in the second round, the worst score of the day for the Irish. He then rebounded Thursday to a third-round 74, good for a three-round score of 222, the second-best score for the Irish.
Delgado posted a strong final round Wednesday, recording a third-round 73 to finish 10-over-par for the event. Juniors John Felitto and Hunter Ostrom struggled for the Irish. Felitto finished with a three-round score of 230 strokes, good for 66th place in the individual rankings. Ostrom recorded a three-round score of 233 strokes, placing him in a tie for 73rd place in the individual field.
The five-man lineup for Notre Dame dropped to 14th by the end of action Tuesday, posting a combined score of 299 strokes. The team climbed two spots on the final day of action to take a 12th-place finish back to campus. The Irish finished 52 strokes out of first place.
Louisiana State University paced the field, posting a combined five-man score 838 strokes over three rounds, good for 14 strokes under par. They led second-place Oklahoma State by six strokes. Louisiana State and Oklahoma State were the only programs to finish under par for the tournament.
Notre Dame’s final combined score of 38-over-par placed two strokes behind East Tennessee State. The Irish also outpaced Utah, UC Davis and San Diego State in the 16-team field.
The Irish will return to action March 15 at The Schenkel in Statesboro, Georgia, home of the Georgia Southern University Eagles.
