The biggest golf news of the week has arrived.
Notre Dame men’s golf has officially concluded its 2025-2026 season.
OK, maybe Rory’s back-to-back green jacket was a tad bigger. But while Ireland’s golf hero stole the headlines, the Irish quietly wrapped up regular season play at the Ford Collegiate Tournament in Richmond Hill, Ga.
Head coach John Handrigan’s team finished seventh out of 12 teams participating, posting a 10-under-par score.
Senior Nate Stevens delivered a near-perfect performance. He finished the tournament at a team-leading 8-under-par, highlighted by a flawless third round. Starting the day at 2 under, Stevens carded a bogey-free round while clipping six birdies to reach his final total. Stevens ultimately finished in seventh place individually.
Finishing just below Stevens was star Jacob Modleski. The junior, who at one point cracked into the top 20 individual rankings nationally a season ago, recorded a 4-under-par to finish in 15th place.
Modleski only got better as the tournament went on. In thefirst round, he tallied three consecutive bogeys on par 4s in the front nine. From there, Modleski took a breath and found his groove. He immediately recorded three birdies in a row to cancel everything out and ended up finishing the first round at 2 under par.
Senior Calen Sanderson, sophomore Mike Qiu, and juniors Rocco Salvitti and Christopher Bagnall rounded out the Irish lineup.
Of the bunch, Qiu finished the highest in 33rd place, shooting even par. Qiu started off round one hot, going bogey-free as he sank three birdies. However, an unlucky triple bogey in round three erased his exceptional work.
Salvitti and Sanderson shot 6-over and 9-over to finish in 49th and 60th place, respectively. Bagnall shot 7-over to finish in between them at 55th place.
Ultimately, the result is a positive one considering the quality of programs on display. No. 4 Texas blew away the competition with a combined 43-under-par score. No. 1 Auburn shot 32 under par, while No. 7 LSU and Wake Forest finished at 14 under and 13 under, respectively.
No. 19 Georgia Tech and Georgia Southern tied for fifth place, shooting just one shot lower than Notre Dame.
Notre Dame’s biggest issue sounds simple but is much more difficult in practice. Just ask the Masters champion. It’s consistency.
The Irish shot 8 under and 9 under par in the first and third rounds. In the second round, they shot 7 over. While much of the field also regressed slightly in the second round, perhaps due to the fatigue of playing a full 18 prior, the Irish still needed to be a tad sharper to compete against the nation’s best.
Notre Dame will seek to find that consistency as it competes at the ACC Championships in Panama City, Fla., this weekend. Currently ranked 28th in the nation, Notre Dame trails conference foes No. 26 Duke, No. 24 Florida State, No. 17 Stanford, No. 9 North Carolina and No. 2 Virginia. However, if history is a measure, the Irish have a chance.
Only one season ago, Modleski channeled the great Rory as he became the first Notre Dame player to win the ACC Individual Championship.
Replicating that form, this time throughout the entirety of the lineup, will be a challenge. But it’s one Handrigan’s team is more than capable of.
