Oct. 28, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team will close out the fall portion of its 2006-07 season at the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate on Monday, Oct. 30 and Tuesday, Oct. 31 at the Oak Point Golf Club in Kiawah Island, S.C. This is the fifth tournament of the semester for the Irish, who are coming off a fifth-place showing at the TaylorMade Aztec Fall Classic on Oct. 16-17 after firing a season-best round of 299 (+11) to conclude the tournament.
TOURNAMENT: The College of Charleston serves as the host school for the event. The tournament is held at the par 72, 5,953-yard Oak Point Golf Club in Kiawah Island, S.C. This marks the fourth time in the past five seasons in which Notre Dame has competed in the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate. Last season, the Irish did not take part in the tournament. Notre Dame won the tournament during the 2003-04 campaign.
FORMAT: Each team’s lineup will be comprised of five golfers with the lowest four scores for each round counting towards the overall team score. The tournament will consist of 54 holes with Monday featuring two 18-hole rounds and Tuesday will have one 18-hole round to conclude the event.
FIELD: A field of 20 teams will take to the Oak Point Golf Club. Four teams are among the top 50 in the latest Golfstat rankings (Oct. 25). Campbell comes in as the highest-ranked team according to Golfstat as the Camels are ranked 43rd. Indiana is ranked 45th, while Notre Dame’s BIG EAST foe Louisville is 47th and The College of Charleston is 50th. Rounding out the field in order of rank is Colorado (57), Maryland (62), Notre Dame (66), Coastal Carolina (72), Wisconsin (73), Arkansas Little-Rock (74), East Tennessee State (75), Miami (79), Kansas State (83), Iowa State (86), Western Carolina (104), Georgia State (105), East Carolina (108), Minnesota (114), Charleston Southern (168) and Appalachian State (170).
The Fighting Irish have faced nine of the 20 teams so far this season. Notre Dame has topped six of the teams (Arkansas Little-Rock, Georgia State, Iowa State, Kansas State, Miami, Wisconsin) and have been bested by three (Campbell, College of Charleston, Maryland).
NOTRE DAME LINEUP: Playing from the No. 1 position will be senior co-captain Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates). Nakazaki boasts the team’s top scoring average for the season with a 75.45 mark in four tournaments, spanning 11 rounds. She has the Irish’s top 54-hole score of 220 (+4) and all of her 11 rounds have counted towards the team’s overall score.
Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Collegiate Parkside Institute) will tee it up from the No. 2 spot in the Fighting Irish lineup. The sophomore has a 76.09 stroke average this season, which ranks second on the squad. She and Nakazaki share the team’s top round of the season with a one-under par 71. Maunu’s low three-round score is a 222 (+6) at the Cougar Classic (Sept. 11-12). She has had 10 of her 11 rounds count towards the team total.
Freshman Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) will play from the third spot. Brophy ranks third on the team with a 78.09 scoring average. Her low round of the season is a two-under par 74 and her best 54-hole total is 229 (+13), which was carded at the Cougar Classic.
Teeing it up from the No. 4 position in the Notre Dame lineup will be junior Jane Lee (Atlanta, Ga./Peninsula (Calif.)). Lee, who did not compete in the season-opening Cougar Classic, carries a 78.63 average into her fourth tournament of the season. Lee’s best three-round total is a 19-over par 235, while her lowest single round score is a two-over par 74.
Kristin Wetzel (Middletown, N.Y./Hilton Head Prep) completes the Irish lineup from the No. 5 spot, carrying a 79.00 stroke average. Wetzel and Brophy have made big contributions to the Irish in just their first semester of play. They each have had nine of their 11 rounds count towards the team total. Wetzel’s best three-round score was a 16-over par 232, which included her top round of 72 (E), at the Lady Irish Invitational.
LAST TIME OUT: A season-best round of 299 (+11) during the second and final round propelled the Notre Dame into a tie for fifth-place at the TaylorMade Aztec Fall Classic (Oct. 16-17) with a two-round total of 609 (310-299) at the par 72, 6,259-yard Salt Creek Golf Club in Chula Vista, Calif. Fighting Irish senior Noriko Nakazaki registered her top finish of the season as she tied for fifth with a two-round one-over par total of 145 (71-74). Denver won the team title with a six-over par 582 (279-303), which included the low round of the tournament, a nine-under par 279 during Monday’s first round. Denver’s Stephanie Sherlock (69-72) and Emily Hoeper (66-75) both finished with identical three-under par scores of 141 to tie for first out of the 112-golfer field. Sherlock would win the playoff hole to take medalist honors. Hoeper’s first round tally of 66 (-6) was the low mark for the tournament.
Lisa Maunu carded the best final round for the Irish with a one-over par 73. She finished in a tie for 31st with a 154 (81-73). Annie Brophy was one shot in back of her teammate with a 155 after shooting rounds of 78 and 77 to tie for 35th and help Notre Dame climb six spots on Tuesday after entering the final round tied for 11th.
Jane Lee shot a four-over par 76 on Tuesday, which was a four-shot improvement on her first-round score, to finish with a 156 (80-76) and in a tie for 41st. Kristin Wetzel shaved five shots off of her first-day total of 81 to end with a 157 (81-76) and tied for 49th. Joining her with a 157 (78-79) was her teammate Stacy Brown, who was playing as an individual entrant in the tournament.
IRISH THOUGHTS: Notre Dame head coach Susan Holt discusses her team and the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate …
Susan Holt – head coach …
“We hope that we can pick up where we left off during the last round of the San Diego State tournament. We had better balance in our scoring that round from top to bottom and that is what we need. We are only as good as our weakest player and we need to narrow that gap.”
“It’s actually going to be a pretty good field at this tournament. It will provide us an opportunity to play some teams ranked ahead of us and a chance for us to try and beat some teams in our region.”
RESULTS: Live scoring of the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate is available through Golfstat.com. Full results will also be posted on the College of Charleston athletics web site at www.CofCSports.com.
NEXT UP: Notre Dame opens the 2007 spring season with a trip to Parrish, Fla. for the Central District Classic on Feb. 19-20. The tournament, which is hosted by Michigan State, will be played at the River Wilderness Golf and Country Club.