SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Steven Fisk, Archer Price and Brett Barron all shot 67 today to lead the Georgia Southern men’s golf team to a second-place finish at the Fighting Irish Classic at Warren Golf Course Monday.
Notre Dame (-18) shot 7-under on the back nine to hold off the hard-charging Eagles (-12), who got to within five strokes of the Fighting Irish at one point.
Fisk tied for first for his second collegiate win and the 11th time the junior has placed in the top-10. Price tied for fourth for the second top-5 finish of his career and his 12th time in the top-20.
Georgia Southern finished the day with a 273, their lowest round since 2005 and two away from the school record of 271, set at the 1980 Gator Invitational. The Eagles shot the second-lowest round of the day to hold off Oakland (-1), which posted an 8-under 272.
Jake Storey shot 72 today and tied for 12th, the 10th top-20 finish of his career. Individual Jacob Bayer posted a 74, and Luukas Alakulppi carded a 76.
The Eagles led the tournament with 56 birdies and led the field in par-4 scoring.
The story
After parring his first five holes, Fisk birdied 6, 8 and 9 before making par on the next six holes. A birdie at the par-4 16th gave the junior sole possession of first place, but he bogeyed the 455-yard 18th to move into the tie.
Price got hot at the end of the day and birdied his final six holes of the tournament to shoot his 67, which ties for his lowest round as an Eagle.
Barron notched four birdies on the day and had a clean card except for a bogey on hole 9. The sophomore parred his first three holes of the day, birdied holes 4 and 5 and parred the next three to shoot 33 on the front. He ran off five straight pars to start the back nine and birdied holes 15 and 18 for his lowest round of the season.
Storey parred all nine holes on the front and made the turn even. The senior birdied holes 10 and 16 on his way to posting 72.
Quotables from Coach Carter Collins
“It was a fantastic week for the team. We are showing signs of growth every week. Having each of the starting five shoot 67 or better at least once on a course that will host the 2019 US Senior Open was a great accomplishment.”
“Second place was not what we came for, but I’m proud of the preparation, effort and execution. It was a very solid week for the program.”
“Congratulations to Steven on earning his second collegiate title; he played outstanding all week long. Congrats also to Archer on a top-5 finish. Six straight birdies is a heck of a way to finish off a tournament, and he is playing fantastic golf.”
Next up
The Eagles return to action at the AutoTrader Collegiate Classic next Monday Oct. 16, in Duluth, Ga.