Oct. 13, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Fresh off the program’s second-best 54-hole total, the Notre Dame women’s golf team will head south to take part in the Tyson/Embassy Suites Invitational in Rogers, Ark. Sunday, Oct. 16 through Tuesday, Oct. 18. A field of 17 will tee it up at the Pinnacle Country Club for three rounds of play. The Fighting Irish are coming off a fourth-place finish at the Shoot-Out at The Legends earlier this week. Notre Dame fired a 26-over par 890 at The Legends of Indiana Golf Course.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT: The eighth-annual event, which is hosted by the University of Arkansas, will feature 18 holes of play each day. The first two days will begin with tee times at 9:00 a.m. (CT). The third and final round will get underway with a shotgun start at 9:00 a.m. (CT) on Tuesday. Notre Dame’s lineup is slated to go off from hole No. 10 between 9:15 a.m. and 9:51 a.m. on Sunday. Each team’s lineup will consist of five golfers, with the lowest four scores for each round counting towards the overall team score. An individual entrant from every team is also allowed to compete.
FIELD: A strong contingent of teams will take to the Pinnacle Country Club. The host school Arkansas headlines the group of 16 teams. The Razorbacks are ranked third in the nation according to golfstat.com. In all, four teams rank in the top-50, including the Fighting Irish at No. 45, will be competing in this tournament. Augusta State and Nebraska are ranked 38th and 40th, respectively. The Irish have squared off against four of the teams in the field so far this season (Illinois State, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin). Notre Dame is 5-1 against those teams, with the only loss coming against Illinois State at The Shoot-Out at The Legends.
LAST TIME OUT: Notre Dame placed fourth at the Shoot-Out at The Legends with an impressive final tally of 890 (+26), which is the second-best mark in program history. By firing a team score of 295 during Tuesday’s third and final round at the par 72, 6,073-yard Legends of Indiana Golf Course, the Fighting Irish finished below 300 (298-297-295) for all three rounds of a 54-hole tournament for the first time in school history. Notre Dame was the only team among the 19-team field to post all three rounds under 300.
NOTRE DAME LINEUP: Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) will play from the No. 1 spot for the Irish. The senior co-captain fired a personal-best four-over par 220 (76-74-70) at The Shoot-Out at The Legends to place eighth out of the field of 95. Sophomore Jane Lee (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula) will tee it up from the second position in the Notre Dame lineup. She too is coming off a career-best score of 221 (71-75-75), which placed her in a tie for ninth at the Shoot-Out at The Legends.
Filling the third spot for Notre Dame will be senior Lauren Gebauer (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington). Gebauer looks to continue her solid play into the fourth tournament of the season. She and her classmate Brophy are tied for second on the team with a 76.33 stroke-average this season.
Freshman Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) will find herself in the lineup once again, playing from the fourth position. Maunu fired her best 54-hole total of the season at the Shoot-Out at The Legends with a 12-over par 228.
Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) is going to tee it up from the fifth spot in the Notre Dame lineup. The junior shot a 13-over par 229 (82-73-74) at the Shoot-Out at The Legends.
Nakazaki leads the team with a 74.11 scoring average this season. Brophy has had all nine of her rounds count towards the team’s overall score this season. All five student-athletes in the Fighting Irish lineup have recorded career-best scores so far this season.
Senior co-captain Suzie Hayes (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto College) will also make the trek to Arkansas and tee it up as an individual entrant. Hayes has an 80.50 stroke-average this season.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Debby King shares her thoughts on the Tyson/Embassy Suites Invitational …
Debby King – head coach …
On the tournament … “This is what I consider to be the beginning of our fall season. The first three tournaments were warm-ups for us.”
“It’s a very tricky golf course. Luckily, three of the six (golfers) going on this trip have already played it before so hopefully that helps us.”
“Finishing second is very realistic for us. When you get teams that are separated in the rankings by only five or 10 spots in front of you, it’s not that big of a deal. Ultimately, our goal is to beat Arkansas.”
On the success of the team so far this season … “I think the maturity of the team has been an important part to our consistency. We are older and more confident as a team.”
On the team keeping the success going … “They are going to have more of an adrenaline rush knowing that there is a chance to move up in the rankings.”
RESULTS: Live results will be available through golfstat.com
NEXT UP: A trip to Las Vegas, Nev. is next on the slate for the Fighting Irish following the Tyson/Embassy Suites Invitational. Notre Dame will compete in the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown at the Anthem Country Club Monday, Oct. 31 through Wednesday, Nov. 2.
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.
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