March 8, 2008
RIO VERDE, Ariz. – A two-over par round of 290 put the 20th-ranked Notre Dame women’s golf team in first place after Saturday’s second round of the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational at the Rio Verde Country Club’s par 72, 6,313-yard Quail Run Course. The Fighting Irish will take a seven-shot lead into Sunday’s third and final round. Notre Dame freshman So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep) leads the individuals with a two-under par 142 (72-70) total.
Minnesota currently resides in second place among the field of 18 teams with a two-round score of 591. Texas Tech, who entered the day with a three-shot lead over the Irish, is third with a 597. Arkansas-Little Rock is fourth (602), while Northern Arizona rounds out the top five (605). Saturday’s round of 290 from Notre Dame is the top 18-hole score of the tournament.
Park carded a two-under par 70 on Saturday by registering four birdies and 12 pars. She will be gunning for her second medalist honor of the season on Sunday, while the Irish are in pursuit of a school-record tying fourth tournament title of the 2007-08 campaign.
Arkansas-Little Rock’s Mallory Fraiche is one shot in back of Park with a 143 total. Notre Dame sophomore Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) is among a three-way tie for third after she carded a one-over par 73 to go along with her one-under par 71 during Friday’s first round for an even-par 144.
Fellow Irish sophomore Kristin Wetzel (Middletown, N.Y./Hilton Head Prep) shot an even-par 72, which included a team-best five birdies, on the day and is tied for eighth with a 36-hole score of 146 (74-72). Her freshman teammate Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) posted a four-over par 76 to go along with her first-round mark of 77 to reside in a five-way tie for 26th with a nine-over par 153.
Rounding out the Fighting Irish lineup was junior co-captain Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute). Maunu knocked six shots off of her Friday total by carding a three-over par 75 on Saturday. She is tied for 43rd with a 12-over par 156 (81-75). Notre Dame sophomore Julie Kim (Bayside, N.Y./Bayside), who is playing in her first event of the 2007-08 season, is tied for 52nd with a 157 (77-80) score. Kim is competing as an individual entrant.
The third and final round of the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational will take place on Sunday beginning with an 8:00 a.m. (MT) shotgun start. Live scoring is available through Golfstat.com and full results will be posted on www.wmubroncos.com. For additional information please log on to und.com or call the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational
Rio Verde Country Club – Quail Run Course – Rio Verde, Ariz., Par 72, 6,313 yards
Team Scores (36-hole totals): 1. Notre Dame 584 (294-290), 2. Minnesota 591 (300-291), 3. Texas Tech 597 (291-306), 4. Arkansas-Little Rock 602 (298-304), 5. Northern Arizona 605 (305-300), 6. Western Michigan 606 (305-301), 7t. Missouri State 610 (311-299), 7t. Illinois State 610 (300-310), 9. Ball State 611 (307-304), 10. Eastern Michigan 612 (303-309), 11. Wisconsin 613 (308-305), 12. Toledo 616 (305-311), 13. Bradley 617 (309-308), 14. Cincinnati 621 (311-310), 15. Bowling Green 626 (316-310), 16. Southern Illinois 631 (318-313), 17. Xavier 632 (320-312), 18. Ohio 657 (328-329)
Top-5 Golfers (of 107): 1. So-Hyun Park (Notre Dame) 142 (72-70), 2. Mallory Fraiche (Arkansas-Little Rock) 143 (71-72), 3t. Laura Bavaird (Western Michigan) 144 (73-71), 3t. Annie Brophy (Notre Dame) 144 (71-73), 3t. Ulrika van Niekerk (Texas Tech) 144 (68-76)
Notre Dame Scores: 1. So-Hyun Park 142 (72-70), 3t. Annie Brophy 144 (71-73), 8t. Kristin Wetzel 146 (74-72), 26t. Katie Conway 153 (77-76), 43t. Lisa Maunu 156 (81-75), 52t. Julie Kim 157 (77-80)*
* – competing as an individual entrant