Fighting Irish Aim To Regain BIG EAST Title

April 22, 2006

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team will try to avenge last season’s disappointing third-place finish at the BIG EAST Golf Championship when they travel to Dade City, Fla. for this year’s conference tournament, which will take place Monday, April 24 and Tuesday, April 25 at the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club. Notre Dame entered last year’s competition as the two-time defending BIG EAST champion and the Irish will look to regain the title as they enter as the top seed among the seven-team field.

TOURNAMENT FORMAT: The BIG EAST Women’s Championship has been just a four-team tournament since it began in 2003 however, this season all seven participating schools will send a team, including the three newcomers to the conference: South Florida, Louisville and Cincinnati. All seven teams will take to the course on Monday for 36 holes of play, while the event will conclude on Tuesday with the final round of 18 holes.

Lake Jovita and the University of South Florida will be first-time hosts for the event, which had been held at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course for all three previous women’s tournaments.

Unlike the men, the BIG EAST women’s tournament does not feature an automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Golf Championship. The women will be eligible for an automatic qualification in 2008.

The seven individuals on both the men’s and women’s side with the lowest 54-hole score at the end of the event will be selected a members of the All-BIG EAST Team

FIELD: Notre Dame headlines the seven-team field as the Irish are the No. 1 seed. Conference newcomer South Florida comes in as the second seed and ranked 53rd nationally, which is actually three spots ahead of the Irish in the golfstat.com rankings. Louisville, another addition to the BIG EAST, rounds out the top three seeds. The Cardinals are ranked 72nd.

Last year’s runner-up Georgetown is the fourth seed, while defending champion St. John’s is the fifth seed. The Hoyas and Red Storm are 80th and 137th, respectively, according to golfstat.com. Completing the field is another new member in Cincinnati along with conference veteran Rutgers. The Bearcats come in ranked 123rd and the Scarlet Knights are 177th.

Notre Dame has faced five of the teams already this season, compiling a 6-0 mark against those squads. The only team the Irish have not faced is South Florida, while Notre Dame has teed it up against Georgetown twice.

NOTRE DAME LINEUP: Junior Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) will lead the Irish from the No. 1 position in the lineup, while Lauren Gebauer (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) looks to continue her solid senior campaign from the No. 2 spot. Nakazaki has a team-best 75.65 scoring-average and Gebauer has a 77.85 mark on the season. As a team, Notre Dame carries a 306.88 average on the season.

Teeing it up at No. 3 will be senior co-captain Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep), who is second on the squad with a 77.35 scoring average. She and Nakazaki have played all 26 rounds as members of the scoring team this season, with Nakazaki leading the Irish with 25 counted rounds. Brophy has had 23 of her rounds count towards the team’s total.

Senior co-captain Suzie Hayes (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto College) and freshman Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) will play from the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, for the Irish. Hayes carries an 81.17 average into this weekend’s play, while Maunu has a 79.81 average. Maunu has been a valuable addition to the Fighting Irish roster as she has played in all nine tournaments during her rookie season.

BIG EAST HISTORY: The Fighting Irish will bring plenty of BIG EAST tournament experience to the Lake Jovita Golf and Country Club. Notre Dame captured the first two league tournament titles in 2003 and 2004. Brophy took home co-medalist honors during the first-ever conference championship. Notre Dame dominated the field in winning the 2003 event by 44 strokes.

As a freshman, Nakazaki led the way for the Irish in 2004 with a third-place finish, while Brophy tied for fourth as the Fighting Irish again cruised to a 14-stroke victory.

Last season’s tournament was reduced from 54 to 18 holes due to inclement weather at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course. Senior Karen Lotta claimed co-medalist honors for the Irish, who finished third overall. Nakazaki garnered her second straight All-BIG EAST accolade as she tied for sixth.

The Fighting Irish have had five different golfers earn All-BIG EAST honors over the past three seasons. Lotta is the program leader with three All-BIG EAST finishes, while Nakazaki and Brophy are second with two apiece. Hayes will be gunning for her second all-conference honor as she placed fourth overall as a freshman in 2003.

LAST TIME OUT: Notre Dame had to withdraw from the James Madison University/Bonnie Hoover Invitational on Apr. 8-9 due to a flight cancellation out of Chicago.

Prior to that, the Fighting Irish captured a fourth-place finish at the Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational in Honolulu, Hawaii on March 21-22. As a team, Notre Dame posted a three-round total of 906 (299-304-303), which was the team’s lowest score during the spring season. The first round tally of 299 marked the first time that the Irish had shot below 300 this spring.

Nakazaki led the way for the Irish as she placed seventh overall with a 54-hole total of 221 (74-71-76). That marked her fifth top-10 finish of the season. Joining Nakazaki in the top-10 was Gebauer, who finished tied for ninth with a 223 (74-75-74) total.

Maunu carded a three-round score of 229 (75-78-76) to finish in a tie for 22nd. Hayes and Brophy posted scores of 236 (76-80-80) and 238 (79-82-77), respectively. Sophomore Alejandra Diaz-Calderon (Guadalajara, Mexico/American) and freshman Courtney Sullivan (Gresham, Ore./Sam Barlow) played as individual entrants for the Irish. Diaz-Calderon registered a 239 (79-79-81), while Sullivan shot a 251 (81-81-89).

IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Debby King talks about the BIG EAST Championship and her team’s chances …

On Notre Dame being the No. 1 seed …

“Being the top seed puts pressure on us. There is really only a one-stroke difference between us, South Florida and Louisville. It’s going to be a fight.”

On the Lake Jovita Golf Course …

“When we went down to the Central District Classic in February, we stopped there and were able to play nine holes. The team said that they liked it. It seemed like a fairly typical Florida course in the fact that it has creeks and lakes and alligators on the course.”

On not hosting the BIG EAST tournament for the first time …

“I think it gives the team more adrenaline to not be playing on their home course. It’s a two-sided coin in the fact that you don’t have the home course advantage but sometimes it doesn’t feel like a tournament when you are at home because you are in your dorm room and around your friends. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel like the real thing when you are at home. Either way I think we are going to be hungry because we weren’t able to play our last tournament at James Madison.”

On Noriko Nakazaki …

“Noriko is ranked second in the conference behind Louisville’s Adrienne White. I think Noriko has a good chance to win.”

On the team’s chances of making the NCAA tournament …

“Golfstat has us 15th in the Central Region but we don’t know how we stand head-to-head with the other teams and that is what the committee looks at. They take 21 teams per region and we aren’t sure how many spots the automatic qualifiers will take up. If we win BIG EAST, that’ll really help us but I do feel good about our chances right now.”

RESULTS: Live results will be available through golfstat.com.

NEXT UP: The Irish will wait to hear if their name will be called for the 2006 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship. Notre Dame is looking to make its third straight appearance in the tournament.

Stay up-to-date on the Notre Dame women’s golf team by logging on to und.com or by calling the Notre Dame Athletics Hotline at (574) 631-3000.

–ND–