May 11, 2007
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Notre Dame senior Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) carded a two-over par 73 during the second round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Central Regional at the par 71, 6,116-yard University of Michigan Golf Course on Friday afternoon. Nakazaki is in a six-way tie for 10th place with a 36-hole total of 145 (+3). She is 10 shots off the lead heading into Saturday’s third and final round of the tournament.
Vanderbilt’s Jacqui Concolino leads the 107-golfer field with a seven-under par 135 (67-68) total. Southern California’s Paola Moreno posted the tournament’s top round with a five-under par 66 on Friday and currently resides in second place, just one shot off the pace, with a 136 score. Catherine Matranga from TCU is in third place with a two-under par 140.
Nakazaki began the day with pars on the first two holes before capturing a birdie on the par-5 third hole. She tallied a bogey on No. 4 and then a double-bogey on the fifth hole. A par on No. 6 was followed by a bogey on No. 7 before she concluded the front nine with two straight pars to make the turn with a three-over par 39.
The senior co-captain moved to the back nine and started off with a par and two birdies. Following a bogey on No. 13, she fired five straight pars to finish with a one-under par 34 on her final nine holes of the day.
Nakazaki is on pace to establish the Notre Dame career scoring mark along with eclipsing her own school record for single-season stroke average. She currently carries a 75.71 career scoring average and a season mark of 74.57.
There are three regional sites for the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship. The top eight teams from each regional along with the top two individuals, who are not on an advancing team, will participate in the championships finals, which will be held May 22-25 at the LPGA International Legends Course in Daytona Beach, Fla. The finals are hosted by the University of Central Florida and the Central Florida Sports Commission.
The third and final round of the 2007 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Central Regional will take place on Saturday with tee times beginning at 8:00 a.m. (ET). Tee times, live scoring and full results of the tournament can be found at www.golfstat.com. For additional information please log onto und.com.
NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Central Regional
(University of Michigan Golf Course – Ann Arbor, Mich., Par 71, 6,116-yards)
Top-4 Golfers (36-hole totals): 1. Jacqui Concolino (Vanderbilt) 135 (67-68), 2. Paola Moreno (Southern California) 136 (70-66), 3. Catherine Matranga (TCU) 140 (68-72), 4. Anita Gahir (Indiana) 141 (70-71), 10t. Noriko Nakazaki (Notre Dame) 145 (72-73)