Feb. 20, 2006
PARRISH, Fla. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team opened the first round of play at the Central District Classic with a 17-over par 305, yet finished the day by firing a 318 in the afternoon’s second round to currently place 11th going into the final round of play at the par 72, 6,099-yard River Wilderness Golf Club. Senior co-captain Suzie Hayes (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto College) paced the Irish on Monday by firing a five-over par 150 (73-77) to reside in a tie for ninth-place. This is the first event of the spring for the Fighting Irish, who placed in the top four in five of their six fall tournaments.
Baylor leads the 14-team field with a two-round mark of 600 (302-298), which is 24-over par. The Bears and SMU each fired a round of 298 (+10) on the day and were the only teams to break 300. SMU shot a 36-hole total of 609 on Monday to reside in a three-way tie for second along with Ohio State and Missouri.
Northwestern’s Alice Kim is atop the individual leader board as she registered an even-par 144 on Monday. Her first round total of 70 matched the low round of the day along with Illinois State’s Samantha Richdale, who also shot her round of 70 in the morning.
Hayes is six shots off the lead for the Irish as she enters play on Tuesday after firing a collegiate career-best round of 73 (+1) during the first 18 holes of action and then a five-over par 77 in the afternoon. Hayes’ teammate Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) carded rounds of 75 and 79 to find herself tied for 24th with a 10-over par 154.
Fighting Irish senior Lauren Gebauer (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) shot identical rounds of 79 to end the day with a 14-over par 158 and in a tie for 45th overall. Freshman Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) opened the morning with a 78 but saw that number rise to an 84 in the afternoon’s second round to conclude the day with a 162 (+18).
Senior co-captain Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) had an uncharacteristic day on the course as she recorded a 169 (+25). Brophy shot an 86 in the first round, which marked the first time all year that her score did not count towards the team’s overall total for that round.
Tuesday’s second and final round will get underway with a shotgun start at 8:00 a.m. (ET). Live results of the tournament are available at golfstat.com. For additional information please log on to und.com or call the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Central District Classic (River Wilderness Golf Club – Parrish, Fla., Par 72, 6,099-yards)
Team Scores (36-hole totals): 1. Baylor 600 (302-298), 2t. Ohio State 609 (301-308), 2t. Missouri 609 (306-303), 2t. SMU 609 (298-311), 5t. Northwestern 610 (300-310), 5t. Nebraska 610 (307-303), 7. LSU 613 (304-309), 8. Kansas 616 (307-309), 9. Michigan 619 (308-311), 10. Michigan State 621 (309-312), 11. Notre Dame 623 (305-318), 12. Kansas State 624 (315-309), 13. Illinois State 628 (304-324), 14. Texas Tech 639 (327-312).
Top-7 Golfers (36-hole totals): 1. Alice Kim (Northwestern) 144 (70-74); 2. Lacey Jones (SMU) 145 (72-73); 3t. Stephanie Connelly (Ohio State) 148 (71-77), 3t. Meredith Jones (Baylor) 148 (76-72), 3t. Samantha Richdale (Illinois State) 148 (70-78), 3t. Stephanie Ruiz (Nebraska) 148 (73-75), 3t. Sara Sackett (Nebraska) 148 (75-73).
Notre Dame Scores (36-hole totals): 9t. Suzie Hayes 150 (73-77), 24t. Noriko Nakazaki 154 (75-79), 45t. Lauren Gebauer 158 (79-79), 65t. Lisa Maunu 162 (78-84), 71t. Katie Brophy 169 (86-83).
— ND —