April 24, 2005

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - After an overnight snowfall in South Bend, the Big East announced Sunday morning that the scores from Saturday's first round would be final, and the Big East Championship wound up being an 18-hole tournament that wrapped up with the Awards Ceremony on Sunday morning. The Wildcats shot a 329 in Saturday's round and placed fifth among the six schools at the tournament.

Saturday's round was played through persistent snow showers, temperatures in the mid-30's and winds that gusted as high as 35 mph at Notre Dame's Warren Golf Course. Villanova was making its first appearance in the conference tournament since the 2000 season.

Junior Jonathan Hewett (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and sophomore Brock Bergman (Pittsburgh, Pa.) each shot an 80 to lead the Wildcats. The pair tied for ninth place in the field of 29 golfers. Bergman birdied the par-5 fifth hole and made the turn with a 2-over-par 37 on the par-70 course. Junior Colin Mahon (Rhinebeck, N.Y.) tied for 21st place after carding an 84, while senior captain Charlie Nettleton (Lisle, Ill.) shot an 85 and tied for 24th.

Notre Dame won the tournament for the second year in a row after recording a team score of 311. The Fighting Irish defeated Georgetown by five strokes. The Hoyas (316) were followed by Rutgers (318) and Boston College (327) ahead of the Wildcats. St. John's (334) was five strokes behind Villanova.

Mark Baldwin of Notre Dame registered a 75 to capture medallist honors, while Matt Busa was runner-up with a score of 76. All 29 golfers in the field shot between a 75 and 90 in the nearly unplayable conditions.

Among the highlights of the round for Villanova were the team's only two birdies, by Bergman and Nettleton on the fifth hole. The par-5 is the longest hole on the course, measuring 518 yards from the back tees. From the tee, golfers must place their ball between a large bunker on the right side of the fairway and three smaller bunkers on the left side. Bergman hit his tee shot far left of the fairway and faced a second shot with his ball deep in the brush that bordered the hole. He then proceeded to lift his ball over a set of trees onto the edge of the green, before two-putting for the birdie.

The Big East Championship concluded a successful season for the Wildcats, who won two tournaments during the season. Villanova was first in a field of 26 teams at the George Washington Invitational, and also was victorious at the Widener Invitational. Hewett earned medallist honors at George Washington, and the team had all of its regular players finish the season with a stroke average in the 70's.