Irish place fifth at Big East despite Ratay's top finish
Special to The Observer
Notre Dame junior golfer Steve Ratay shot a one-over par 71 on Sunday afternoon at the Metacomet Country Club for a 54-hole total of 215 to take a share of the 2001 Big East Golf Championship.
Ratay, finished in a three-way tie for first, joining St. John's Andrew Svoboda and Virginia Tech's Brian Krusoe with five-over par 215's. Virginia Tech won the team title by nine strokes over St. John's with an 875 total and will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in May. The Irish finished fifth with a 902 total.
Ratay becomes the third Notre Dame golfer to win the Big East title joining previous winners, Todd Vernon (1997) and Bill Moore (1995) as tourney medalist. He began play on Sunday tied for second, with Svoboda, just one stroke behind Krusoe after 36-holes of play. Ratay and Svoboda shot one-over par 71's for the day, while Krusoe dropped a stroke with a two-over 72 on the par 70, 6,464-yard Metacomet Country Club course. This marks the second time this season that Ratay has tied for a tournament championship as he also finished in a first place tie at the Wisconsin Invitational in the fall.
The junior standout made his run to the three-way championship on the strength of his play on the course's par five holes. For the weekend, Ratay averaged a 3.83 on the two par-fives, going seven-under for the six holes.
As a team, the Irish had the second best round of the day as they shot a 10-over par 290 to finish with a 902 (307-305-290). Virginia Tech, ranked 22nd in the nation, was three strokes better than Notre Dame over the final 18 holes with a seven-over par 287 on the way to the Hokies' 875 (291-297-287). St. John's was second with an 884 (304-286-294) while Rutgers was third with an 897 (300-304-293), followed by Georgetown in fourth with a 900 (305-296-299) with Notre Dame fifth and Seton Hall sixth (904/298-300-306).
Irish sophomore Kyle Monfort tied for the best single round of the final day as he fired a one-under par 69 on the way to a 15-over par total of 215 (78-78-69) which put him in a tie for 14th, 10 strokes behind the three top finishers.
Senior Alex Kent finished in a tie for 17th with a 54-hole total of 228 as he followed rounds of 77 and 76 on Saturday with a closing round 75.
Brandon Lunke was 27th on the weekend with a 237 mark as he turned in a 76 on Sunday after opening rounds of 84 and 77. Senior Pat Schaffler finished28th overall as he shot a final round 75 to give him a 240 total (82-83-75).
The Big East Championship closed out the spring schedule for the Fighting Irish.
All Sports Stories for Monday, April 30, 2001
