Oct. 31, 2003
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team will play in its final fall tournament of the 2003-04 season Monday-Tuesday, November 3-4, when it takes part in the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate in Kiawah Island, S.C. The Irish will be in action for the first time since finishing in fifth place with a 908 (303-304-301) at the adidas Invitational (Oct.19-21), which was hosted by the University in Palm Harbor, Fla. The 54-hole Edwin Watts/Palmetto will be hosted by the College of Charleston and played at the par-72, 5,909-yard Oak Point Golf Club.
The Irish will head to the links with hopes of having yet another successful outing this fall, one of the greatest in the program’s history. The team has won two tournaments (Cougar Classic and Notre Dame Invitational) and has finished no worse than seventh in any of its previous five fall tournaments. Notre Dame set single-round (285) and 54-hole (889) records to win the Cougar Classic.
Freshman Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates HS) will lead the Irish lineup in South Carolina. The rookie has played in all of Notre Dame’s five previous fall tournaments, placing in the top 10 at each and leading the team in four of the five events. Nakazaki has a team-best 74.73 stroke average, which includes a school-record 69 in her opening round as a collegian at the Cougar Fall Classic.
Notre Dame also will be looking for consecutive strong performances from junior Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount HS) and freshman Stacy Brown (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands HS). The two golfers competed as individuals at the adidas Invitational and turned in their best scores of the season. Brown carded a 226 (+10) and Lotta fired a 12-over par 228, the best 54-hole score of her career.
Sophomore Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) and senior co-captain Shannon Byrne (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove HS) will fill the remaining two spots in the Notre Dame lineup. Brophy is second on the team in stroke average at 75.93 and is one of just two members of the Irish to have played in all five tournaments this fall. Byrne logged a 54-hole personal best this season at the Cougar Classic with a seven-over par 223 and will be making her fifth appearance of the season on Monday and Tuesday.
The 17-team Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate will begin all three rounds of play with shotgun starts. The teams will play 27 holes on Monday, November 3, but only the first round scores will be available to the media at the end of the day. The second round will conclude on Tuesday, November 4, and will be followed by the final 18 holes. Results of the tournament will be posted both days on the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.und.com) and will be available on the Notre Dame Sports Hotline (574-631-3000).
– ND –