April 10, 2010
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Fighting Irish women’s golf team is in fifth place after two rounds of play at the SunTrust Gator Women’s Golf Invitational. The Irish fired an opening round 295 on Saturday morning at the Mark Bostick Golf Course and followed with a 300 in the afternoon session to stand at 35-over par (595).
Notre Dame was led in the first round by Katie Conway’s (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) even-par 70 that included four birdies and 11 pars. The 70 marked Conway’s first even par or better round of the 2009-10 season and matched her lowest stroke total with the Irish, as she also netted a 70 in the third round of the 2008 Heather Farr Memorial. In the afternoon session, Conway carded an 82, which did not count towards Notre Dame’s team score.
In addition to Conway’s strong opening round, the Irish were led by top of the lineup starters Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton) and Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep), who are each in the top-10 heading into Sunday. Huffer carded a 74 in the opening round and followed with an even-par 70 in the second round, with her four-over par (144) total placing her in a tie for fifth. Her second round was highlighted by birdies at the 11th and 15th holes. Brophy shot a two-over par 72 in the morning and followed with a three-over par 73 in the afternoon. Brophy notched five birdies on the day including two at the par-five seventh. Her five-over par (145) total places her in a tie for eighth entering the final day of play. Each of Huffer and Brophy’s rounds counted towards Notre Dame’s team score.
So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton/Preparatory Academy) also saw both of her rounds counted as she recorded back-to-back 79’s to put her at 18-over par (158). She is currently tied for 59th. Her only birdie of the day came during the first round at the 16th.
Rounding out the Irish contingent, senior co-captain Kristin Wetzel (Middletown, N.Y./Hilton Head Prep School) opened with an 81 that was not counted towards Notre Dame’s team score. She then chipped in with a second round 78, which was highlighted by a birdie at the 11th. The 78 helped comprise Notre Dame’s second round team total. Wetzel is tied for 62nd at 19-over par (159).
Florida State leads the 15-team field at 17-over par (577) and Michigan State is in second with a 20-over par (580) total. On the individual leaderboard, Huffer trails Michigan State’s Laura Kueny by just three strokes, as the Spartan leads the 80-player field at one-over par (141).
Sunday’s final round will begin with an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start. Live hole-by-hole scoring of the final round will be available via Golfstat. To access the site, visit http://www.golfstatresults.com or click on the Live Stats tab on the right-hand side of the Notre Dame women’s golf schedule page on und.com. A recap of Sunday’s action will also be posted on und.com.
Team Scores1. Florida State (577)2. Michigan State (580)3. Florida (587)4. Chattanooga (592)5. Notre Dame (595)6. Nebraska (599)7. UCF (603)8. Texas A&M (604)9. UNC-Greensboro (609)10. South Florida (611)11. Georgia State (612)12. Furman (613013. Florida International (619)14. Georgetown (622)15. Florida Atlantic (642)
Notre Dame ScoresT-5. Becca Huffer (74-70-144)T-8. Annie Brophy (72-73-145)T-33. Katie Conway (70-82-152)T-59. So-Hyun Park (79-79-158)T-62. Kristin Wetzel (81-78-159)
–ND–