Feb. 21, 2005
PARRISH, Fla. – The University of Notre Dame women’s golf team currently resides in 12th-place following the first 36-holes of play at the spring season-opening Central District Classic. Each Fighting Irish golfer bettered her respective first round score in the second 18-holes of play at the par 72, 6,099-yard River Wilderness Golf and Country Club. Junior co-captain Katie Brophy (Spokane Wash./Gonzaga Prep) fired the best round of the day for the Irish with a two-over par 74 in round two, which bettered her first round total by three strokes to place herself in a tie for 19th overall amongst a very strong field.
The 31st-ranked Fighting Irish carded rounds of 313 and 305 to finish with a 42-over par 618, which places them in 12th. Missouri leads the highly competitive field of 15 after the first day of competition as the 13th-ranked Tigers posted an 11-over par 587 and are followed closely by No. 20 Arkansas, who are two shots back. No. 14 LSU (599) is in fourth, while the fifth-ranked Wolverines of Michigan (610) are tied for fifth with Texas A&M. Ohio State (613), who came in as the highest ranked team at No. 9 according to golfstat.com, is in eighth place heading into day two. Arkansas’ Stacy Lewis is atop the individual leader board with a two-under par 142 (72-70).
Notre Dame sophomore Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) opened with a 78 and knocked three shots off of that total in the afternoon to reside in a five-way tie for 31st with a nine-over par 153. The Irish second round improvement was key for the entire squad as the team positions itself for a run in the final day of play on Tuesday. Only eight shots separate places five through 12.
Sophomore Stacy Brown (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) and junior co-captain Suzie Hayes (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto College) fired identical scores of 79 and 78 for a 13-over par 157 total and place amongst a five-way tie at 48th. Freshman Jane Lee (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./The Peninsula) was one shot in back of her Notre Dame teammates in a tie for 53rd as she rounded out the field for the Irish with a 158 (80-78).
Tuesday’s final round of action gets underway with a shotgun start at 8:00 a.m. Live stats and results will be posted on the Michigan State web site at msuspartans.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 & Country Club. – Parrish, Fla., Par 72, 6,009-yards)
Top-10 Team Scores (36-hole totals): 1. Missouri 292-295=587, 2. Arkansas 296-293=589, 3. Baylor 300-295=595, 4. LSU 303-296=599, 5t. Michigan 307-303=610, 5t. Texas A&M 306-304=610, 7. Texas Tech 311-300=611, 8. Ohio State 303-310=613, 9. SMU 309-305=614, 10. Nebraska 306-310=616, 12. Notre Dame 313-305=618.
Top-5 Golfers plus Notre Dame scores (36-hole totals): 1. Stacy Lewis (Arkansas) 72-70=142; 2. Sian Reddick (Baylor) 73-72=145; 3t. Jennifer Ackerson (SMU) 73-73=146; 3t. Merynn Ito (Nebraska) 69-77=146; 3t. Denise Knaebel (Missouri) 73-73=146; 3t. Amanda McCurdy (Arkansas) 71-75=146; 3t. Maria Ohlsson (Missouri) 76-70=146; 3t. Amy Schmucker (Michigan) 74-72=146; 3t. Kristen White (Ohio State) 71-75=146; Notre Dame: 19t. Katie Brophy 77-74=151, 31t. Noriko Nakazaki 78-75=153, 48t. Stacy Brown 79-78=157, 48t. Suzie Hayes 79-78=157, 53t. Jane Lee 80-78=158.
— ND –