March 20, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas – The women’s golf team shot a plus eight-296 in first round action at the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational to finish in sixth place after day one. The Irish were led by sophomore So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep) and freshman Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton HS), who each carded plus-one 73’s on the day.
The Irish all started their rounds on the tenth tee at the University of Texas Golf Club, a par-72 that stands at 6,324 yards in length. Park notched nine pars in her round while also adding birdies at the fifth, 14th, 15th and 18th. Huffer recorded a team leading 15 pars, including her last seven holes and she birdied the 15th. The Irish teammates are in a tie for 15th place, three shots back from a group of six golfers who fired minus-one scores to lead after one round of play.
Junior Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) and senior captain Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) also scored for the Irish, as each carded plus-three 75’s to finish in a tie for 32nd. Brophy birdied the fourth, ninth, 11th and 14th and added seven pars. Maunu birdied the sixth and 15th holes while notching 13 pars in her first round of play.
Notre Dame’s final entrant, Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River), shot a plus-nine 81 in the first round. The sophomore birdied the 15th and added eight pars.
The Irish will try and climb the leaderboard tomorrow, March 21 when round two gets underway at 8:15 a.m. (CST) with a split-tee start. Live hole-by-hole scoring of the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational is available through Golfstat. To access the site go to http://www.golfstatresults.com. Full results will also be posted at http://www.TexasSports.com, while full recaps will be posted on und.com.
Top Five Teams Scores (18-hole totals): 1. Arizona State (-1/287); 2. Arkansas (E/288); t3. Vanderbilt (+3/291); t3. Purdue (+3/291); 5. New Mexico (+4/292).
Top Six Golfers (18-hole totals): t1. Jodi Ewart (New Mexico/-2); t1. Maria Hernandez (Purdue/-2); t1. Stefanie Kenoyer (Furman/-2); t1. Maude-Aimee LeBlanc (Purdue/-2); t1. Lucy Nunn (Arkansas/-2); t1. Jennifer Osborn (Arizona State/-2).
Notre Dame Scores (18-hole totals): t15. So-Hyun Park (73); t15. Becca Huffer (73); t32. Annie Brophy (75); t32. Lisa Maunu (75); t75. Katie Conway (81).
–ND-