Notre Dame's Sanderson finishes in a tie for second in Folds of Honor Collegiate at American Dunes

 

   Calen Sanderson captured the title in the PIAA Class AAA Championship as a junior at Holy Ghost Prep in the pandemic season of 2020.

   He was the runnerup in the Pennsylvania Open in the summer of 2023, a finish that led to his being named the Pennsylvania Golf Association (PAGA) Player of the Year.

   Despite his obvious talent, Sanderson has had trouble consistently cracking the starting lineup in his first three seasons at Notre Dame.

   Still, Sanderson has patiently bided his time, continued working on his game and continued to get better. Looks like that hard work is starting to pay dividends.

   Sanderson opened his senior season this week by finishing in a tie for second place in the Folds of Honor Collegiate, which wrapped up Wednesday at the American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Mich., with a solid 3-under 213 total.

   Sanderson and Downingtown West’s Nick Gross had a nice little rivalry during Sanderson’s last two years at Ghost. Gross, then a freshman, edged Sanderson for the District One Class AAA crown at Turtle Creek Golf Course in 2020. But it was Sanderson who grabbed the state title in Class AAA a couple of weeks later.

   A year later, Sanderson defeated Gross in a playoff to capture the District One Class AAA title, but finished in third place in the PIAA Class AAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort while Gross claimed the state title in a playoff.

   Gross is a sophomore at Alabama these days and while he struggled a little individually, finishing in the group tied for 53^rd place at 230, he helped the Crimson Tide capture the team crown in the Folds of Honor Collegiate for the second straight year.

   The Folds of Honor Collegiate has quickly emerged as one of the top collegiate events in the early part of the season with The Golf Channel’s cameras rolling.

   Sanderson was on the leaderboard throughout as he matched par over the 7,203-yard, par-72 American Dunes layout with a 72 in the opening round, added a sparkling 3-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round and again matched par in the final round with another 72 as he finished a shot behind the individual winner, Gross’ Alabama teammate William Jennings, a sophomore from Greenville, S.C.

   Jennings sandwiched a 4-under 68 in Tuesday’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s to claim the individual title with a 4-under 212 total.

   Alabama and Notre Dame shared the team lead following the opening round, each opening with a 1-over 289.

   The Crimson Tide, behind Jennings’ 68, inched ahead with a 4-under 284 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 2-under 286 that left them with a 5-under 859 total. Alabama was the only team to finish under par.

   Alabama is coming off a disappointing season. The Crimson Tide reached the semifinals in the always tough Southeastern Conference Championship, but were unable to advance to the NCAA Championship at the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. out of the weather-plagued Reno Regional as a three seed.

   Alabama had three players finish among the top seven in the individual chase as Jack Mitchell, a junior from Athens, Ala., ended up in fourth place with a 2-under 214 total and Connor Brown, a graduate student from Pinehurst, N.C., landed among a group of four players tied for seventh at 1-over 217.

   Mitchell was steady throughout, matching par in each of the first two rounds with a pair of 72s before contributing a 2-under 70 as Alabama stubbornly held onto the team lead in the final round. After opening with a 2-over 74, Brown matched par with a 72 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71.

    Notre Dame, playing out of the tough Atlantic Coast Conference, added a 1-under 287 in Tuesday’s second round to its opening-round 289 before closing with another 1-over 289 as the Fightin’ Irish recorded a solid runnerup finish with a 1-over 865 total, six shots behind Alabama.

   It was a disappointing finish to the season for the Irish last spring as they failed to advance out of the Tallahassee Regional as a seven seed.

   Notre Dame had another strong individual showing at American Dunes from Jacob Modleski, a junior from Noblesvile, Ind. and No. 11 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).

   Modleski dragged himself away from what I’m sure was a really fun celebration for the victorious United States Walker Cup team Sunday at the Cypress Point Club on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula to join his teammates in time for Monday’s start of the Folds of Honor Collegiate and closed with a 3-under 69 to finish alone in fifth place with a 1-under 215 total.

   Modleski, undoubtedly riding a bit of an adrenaline wave after helping the U.S. defeat Great Britain & Ireland, 17-9, at Cypress Point, opened the Folds of Honor Collegiate with back-to-back 1-over 73s in the first two rounds.

   A couple of Big 12 entries, Cincinnati and Kansas, finished in a tie for third place in the team standings, each landing on 11-over 875, 10 shots behind Notre Dame.

   The Bearcats struggled in the opening round with a 303, but bounced back nicely, recording a 1-under 287 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 3-under 285, the best team score of the final round.

   Cincinnati was led by Leo Wessel, a sophomore from Indianapolis, Ind. who tallied back-to-back 3-under 69s in the final two rounds to earn runnerup honors in the individual standings, a shot behind Jennings with a 3-under 213 total. Wessel had opened with a 3-over 75.

   The Jayhawks were pretty solid throughout, opening with a 3-over 291 before adding back-to-back 4-over 292s in the final two rounds.

   Kansas was led by Will King, a senior from Olathe, Kan., and Arthur Carlier, a freshman from France, both of whom were part of the quartet tied for seventh place at 1-over.

   King added a 1-over 73 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 74 before closing with a solid 2-under 70. After opening with a 1-under 71, Carlier posted back-to-back 1-over 73s in the final two rounds.

   Kansas failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as an eight seed in the Bremerton Regional in the spring.

   California, one of the new West Coast additions to the ACC, finished in fifth place in the 15-team field with a 12-over 876 total that left the Golden Bears a shot behind Cincinnati and Kansas.

   After struggling to a 306 in the opening round at American Dunes, Cal bounced back with a solid 2-under 286 in Tuesday’s second round before matching par in the final round with a 288.

   The Bears earned a trip to the NCAA Championship at La Costa in the spring with a fifth-place finish in the Reno Regional.

   Backing up the top three for Alabama was Jonathan Griz, a senior from Hilton Head, S.C. and No. 56 in the WAGR who finished among a trio of players tied for 25^th place at 6-over 222.

   Griz was solid in the first two rounds, opening with a 1-under 71 and matching par in the second round with a 72, but struggled to a 79 in the final round.

   Which brings me to Gross, who opened his sophomore season by struggling to a 230 total. Gross opened with a 3-over 75 and added an 81 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a counting 73 that included six birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey.

   Gross played a lot of golf in the summer, teeing it up in most of the Elite Amateur Series events. He was still eligible to tee it up in the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship and had a nice showing, reaching the quarterfinals at the Trinity Forest Golf Club in the oven that was Dallas.

   Gross earned a spot in the field for the U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif., but never got it going, opening with a 79 at the Lake Course and adding a 74 at the Ocean Course for a 13-over 153 total.

   I’m sure next year’s U.S. Amateur will be a priority for Gross, since it will be something of a home game for him at Merion Golf Club’s iconic East Course. Gross made the cut in the Pennsylvania Amateur at Merion as a 14-year-old in the summer of 2021.

   Host Michigan State was represented on the leaderboard at American Dunes by Caleb Bond, a senior from Williamston, Mich. who finished alone in sixth place with an even-par 216 total. Bond matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 1-under 71 in Tuesday’s second round before finishing up with a 1-over 73.

   Rounding out the foursome that finished in a tie for seventh place at 1-over was Missouri’s Veikka Viskari, a junior from Finland who closed with a 5-under 67 that looks like it may have been the low individual round of the tournament. Viskari opened with a 5-over 77 before adding a 73 in Tuesday’s second round.

   Also in the Notre Dame lineup was junior Rocco Salvitti, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Pittsburgh Central Catholic who finished in the group tied for 35^th place at 8-over 224. Salvitti opened with a solid 2-under 70 before adding a 3-over 75 in Tuesday’s second round and closing with a 79.

   Salvitti was a dominant winner of the Pennsylvania Amateur Championship at Huntsville Golf Club earlier this summer, earning a trip to the U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club in the process. Salvitti got off to a solid start at the Olympic Club with a 1-over 71 at the Ocean Course, but a second-round 80 at the Lake Course left him with an 11-over 151 total and he failed to earn a spot in the match-play bracket.