Notre Dame Golf: Irish Out of NCAA Tournament, Modleski Advances

Another verse of “here I go again on my own…”

Apologies for the lack of timely updates on Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s golf in recent weeks – a lot has been happening in my world as well as theirs. Since the last time we checked in, the Irish qualified for a regional qualifier for the NCAA tournament but are now eliminated from postseason play as a team, with sophomore Jacob Modleski advancing as an individual.

The ACC Championship in April saw Modleski achieve a historic high for Notre Dame golf by bringing home the individual conference title – Notre Dame’s first ever – while the Irish finished 10th overall as a team. They entered the NCAA regionals in Tallahassee ranked #7 in the bracket, needing to gain some ground to get into the 30-team championship field. Unfortunately they came up short with a 9th-place, +7 overall finish. It was a disappointing outcome as the Irish posted a -7 opening round and were in great position, but gradually lost ground over the tournament’s final day and ended up being bounced.

Modleski was again the leader for the Irish in Tallahassee with an outstanding -9 finish for the whole tournament, good for fourth place overall. The rest of the Irish clustered between ranks 39 and 57. Sophomore Rocco Salvitti was Notre Dame’s second-best at +2 overall, followed by Nate Stevens (+8), Christopher Bagnall (+10), and Mike Qiu (+12). The aforementioned final day was a brutal one, with all but Modleski finishing multiple strokes above par.

With their team season wrapped, the Irish stand at #41 in the national rankings – slightly behind last year’s NCAA Championship-qualifying finish, but still upholding a high standard and with a ton of returning and developing talent. And while it was an individual mark, Modleski’s ACC title was an absolute high for the modern era of Irish golf. Domers can have many reasons for continued optimism on the links.

Modleski now advances as an individual to the NCAA Championships at the Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, CA. He will be the highest-scoring competitor not on an advancing team. It’s still a tough field, but the sophomore enters on one hell of a hot streak and represents the first real shot in years at bringing a national title of any kind home to South Bend.