April 21, 2009
DADE CITY, Fla. – Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) turned in a dominating back-nine to claim the 2009 BIG EAST individual crown as she finished at minus-one for the tournament after carding a final round minus-two 70. As a team, the Irish shot a final day 294 to finish at plus-23, good for second place honors at the championship. The 294 was Notre Dame’s best team score of the tournament. Louisville came in first with a plus-12 mark.
In the final round of play at the Lake Jovita Country Club, Maunu, was plus-two at the turn and then bogeyed the 10th to go three-over with eight holes to play. But with birdies on the 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 17th she was able to secure the BIG EAST title as she turned in one of only two under-par rounds on the day. She finished three shots ahead of Louisville’s Sara-Maude Juneau, who came in second.
Maunu, celebrating her 22nd birthday, gave the Irish back-to-back BIG EAST individual titles, as junior Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) won the title at last season’s championship.
In addition to Maunu, So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep) and Brophy also finished in the top-10. The Irish duo tied for ninth with plus-eight 224 marks. In the third round, Park shot a plus-two 74 that included birdies on the third and 15th. Brophy also carded a two-over 74 in the third round. Her consistent day included 16 pars.
Freshman Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton) finished tied for 11th after shooting a plus-four 76 in the final round. Junior Kristin Wetzel (Middletown, N.Y./Hilton Head Prep) shot a third round 79 to finish in 23rd.
The Irish will now wait for NCAA selections to be announced on Monday, April 27 as they look forward to NCAA Regional play, which begins on May 7 in Gainesville, Fla., Tempe, Ariz. and Columbus, Ohio. Stay tuned to UND.com for full details once the selections have been released.
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2009 BIG EAST Championship – Dade City, Fla. Par 72 – 6,386 Yards
Team Scores (36-hole totals): 1. Louisville 876; 2. Notre Dame 887; t3. Cincinnati 917; t3. Georgetown 917; 5. South Florida 917; 6. St. John’s 937; 7. Rutgers 996.
Notre Dame Scores (36-hole totals): 1. Lisa Maunu (74-71-70-215); t9. Annie Brophy (77-73-74-224); t9. So-Hyun Park (70-80-74-224); t11. Becca Huffer (75-74-76); 23. Kristin Wetzel (76-80-79-235).
–ND–