All eyes on West Lafayette
Going into last weekend’s Haskins Award Invitational in Augusta, GA, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s golf team needed a strong performance to stay in the national conversation. They got it.
Notre Dame’s 856 (-8) score was good for its second-consecutive fourth-place finish, continuing a welcome return to form on the season’s home stretch. As in so many other tournaments this season the Irish were paced by sophomore Jacob Modelski, who finished at 207 (-9) and fourth overall among individual competitors. Close behind, in a welcome breakout performance, came freshman Mike Qiu. Qiu notched the first top-10 finish of his career at 210 (-6). Junior Rocco Salvitti was the third Irish competitor in the top 25 with a 217 (+1) finish.
Mike Qiu(Fr.) led the Irish in the Final Round of the Augusta Haskins Award Invite with a 68(-4). Jacob Modleski(So.) added a score of 71(-1) and Rocco Salvitti(So.) added a 72(E).
Jacob finished in 4th with rounds of 71-65-71 and Mike finished in 6th with rounds of 69-73-68! pic.twitter.com/YoaX35Jhnd
— Notre Dame Men’s Golf (@NDMensGolf) April 6, 2025
Overall, the Irish did well enough in Augusta to move up one spot to #38 in the national rankings. The Irish rank eighth in the ACC, seven spots behind the SMU Mustangs. Notably, Modleski also has moved up significantly in the individual national rankings and is now ranked 17th in the country.
The Irish will look to continue rising in the regular season’s final tournament: the Boilermaker Classic, taking place April 19-20 in West Lafayette, IN. From there, the Irish will compete in the ACC Championships from April 25-28. Last season’s Notre Dame team was able to make a similar jump to enter the 30-team NCAA tournament field in the final weeks of the regular season; we’ll see if this squad can repeat that feat.