Sept. 18, 2007
SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team registered its second consecutive tournament victory by topping the field of 17 at the Napa River Grill Cardinal Cup on Tuesday afternoon. The Irish carded a 14-over par three-round score of 878 (292-290-296) to best the host Louisville Cardinals by three shots. It was another clean sweep for Notre Dame as freshman So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep) collected medalist honors with a three-under par 213 at the par 72, 6,181 yard Cardinal Club.
Notre Dame carried an eight-shot lead over Louisville into the tournament’s third and final round on Tuesday. The Irish posted an eight-over par 296 on the day, which held off a late-charging Louisville squad that shot a 291. The wins gives the Irish their second straight win to open the 2007-08 season. Notre Dame began the campaign with a win at the Cougar Classic (Sept. 9-11). This marked just the third time in the 20-year history of the program that the Irish have captured back-to-back team victories.
“We played the last four holes at four-under par so we finished really well,” said Notre Dame head coach Susan Holt. “We let the lead slip away heading into the back nine, so I approached all of our golfers and said that we have to get it back and we did. It was really nice to back up what we did last week.”
Park fired rounds of 70 and 71 on Monday and entered Tuesday with a one-shot lead over Middle Tennessee State’s Taryn Durham. Both golfers shot identical even-par totals of 72 and Park captured the victory in just her second collegiate tournament. She placed second at the Cougar Classic after shooting a 213 in that event.
Irish junior Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute), who was coming off a medalist-finish at the Cougar Classic, registered another top-10 performance by posting rounds of 70, 76 and 75 for a five-over par 221 total. She concluded the event in a three-way tie for sixth. The victories by Maunu and Park marked the second time in program history that Irish golfers have won back-to-back events.
Sophomore Kristin Wetzel (Middletown, N.Y./Hilton Head Prep) shot a career-best 54-hole total of 223 (+7) with rounds of 75, 71 and 77 to place in a two-way tie for 13th out of the 94-golfer field. Her second-round score was her top collegiate round.
Fellow Irish sophomore Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) posted a 226 (77-73-76) as did freshman Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) (78-75-73). They both finished as part of a four-way tie for 21st. Tuesday’s one-over par 73 from Conway was her top round of the season.
“Sometimes we make the game a little more difficult than it needs to be,” commented Holt. “We had an eight-shot lead but we kept playing aggressive when we didn’t have to. But in the end it worked out and we finished strong.”
Full results of the Napa River Grill Cardinal Cup can be found at golfstat.com or uoflsports.com.
The Fighting Irish will look for a school-record third-straight victory when they tee it up at the Wolverine Invitational on Sept. 29 and 30 at the University of Michigan Golf Course. For additional information please log on to und.com or call the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Napa River Grill Cardinal Cup
September 18, 2007 • Simpsonville, Ky.
Cardinal Club (par 72/6,181 yards)
Team Scores (54-hole totals): 1. Notre Dame 878 (292-290-296); 2. Louisville 881 (295-295-291); 3. Augusta State 890 (289-303-298); 4. Georgia State 896 (303-291-302); 5. Middle Tennessee State 912 (302-300-310); 6t. South Florida 913 (307-307-299); 6t. East Tennessee State 913 (309-296-308); 8t. Maryland 916 (311-306-299); 8t. Illinois State 916 (305-308-303); 10. Cincinnati 917 (308-304-305); 11. Memphis 923 (311-306-306); 12. Coastal Carolina 926 (317-304-305); 13. Missouri State 929 (310-308-311); 14. Southern Mississippi 933 (319-304-310); 15. Eastern Kentucky 936 (312-316-308); 16. Xavier 948 (324-314-310); 17. Western Carolina 956 (323-323-310)
Top-8 Golfers (of 94): 1. So-Hyun Park (Notre Dame) 213 (70-71-72); 2. Taryn Durham (Middle Tennessee State) 214 (70-72-72); 3t. Laura Anderson (Louisville) 217 (72-73-72); 3t. Sara-Maude Juneau (Louisville) 217 (73-75-69); 3t. Missy Linnens (Missouri State) 217 (72-72-73); 6t. Emilie Geury (Augusta State) 221 (74-76-71); 6t. Lisa Maunu (Notre Dame) 221 (70-76-75); 6t. Sarah Mooney (Augusta State) 221 (71-79-71)
Notre Dame Scores: 1. So-Hyun Park 213 (70-71-72); 6t. Lisa Maunu 221 (70-76-75); 13t. Kristin Wetzel 223 (75-71-77); 21t. Annie Brophy 226 (77-73-76); 21t. Katie Conway 226 (78-75-73)