The Notre Dame men’s squad continued its hot start to the season this week at the Inverness Intercollegiate tournament in Toledo, Ohio. The team finished the tournament in third place out of 15 teams, behind only winner Texas Tech and runner-up Tennessee.
The team began the tournament by shooting a combined 294 (+10) in the first round, good enough for fifth place. However, the team improved as the tournament went on, scoring 285 (+1) and 286 (+2) in the second and third rounds respectively. That was good enough to place the Irish firmly in third place, a result that maintains the current run of form that the team is on.
Coach John Handrigan said he was pleased by the result and the collective determined attitude of his squad.
“It’s pretty rare when a team is disappointed with a third place finish,” he said. “It was a really strong field, so to come in third is pretty darn good, but they wanna get back in the winner’s circle.”
Individually, the team was buoyed by the performance of senior Davis Lamb. After beginning the tournament with a four-over-par 75, the senior caught fire, going under par in the following rounds. His one-under-par 70 and two-under-par 69 in the second and third rounds were crucial to the Irish effort. Lamb would finish tied for fourth place.
Also contributing heavily to the cause was senior Hunter Ostrom, who shot a similarly fantastic combined two-over-par 215 for the tournament, good enough for 10th place.
Freshman Palmer Jackson has been a bright spot for the Irish with eye-catching performances early in his Notre Dame career. He ended the tournament just behind Ostrom on the leaderboard at three-over-par, shooting 216 over the three rounds.
When asked about the performances of his freshman, Handrigan was full of praise.
“He’s an elite player, and he is going to do a lot more things for Notre Dame golf so it’s not surprising at all,” he said.
The Irish will host the Fighting Irish Classic on October 7 and 8 at Warren Golf Course.
