Sept. 25, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team entered Sunday in fourth-place at the Lady Northern Invitational and that is where the team would finish the day as well. The Fighting Irish posted a third round score of 304 (+16) at a windy and rainy par 72, 6,142-yard Indiana University Championship Golf Course. For the tournament, Notre Dame shot a 39-over par 903 (303-296-304). Leading the way for the Irish was junior Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) as she carded a one-under par 71 on the day to finish the tournament with a Notre Dame record one-under par 215 (70-74-71) total, which was just one shot off the co-medalists, to place third.
“I’ve never been more proud of a team than I am with this performance,” stated Irish head coach Debby King following the final round. “The wind was blowing all day and the rain was coming down sideways during parts of the day but the team kept pumping their fists even though they were soaking wet. They really fought out there and that made coaching them fun.”
Purdue took home the team title with a comfortable 20-shot win over runner-up Michigan State and the rest of the 12-team field. The Boilermakers ended with a three-over par score of 867, while the Spartans finished with an 887 followed by Penn State with a 30-over par 894 and then the Irish with their 903 total.
“Beating Michigan and Northwestern is really big for us,” King commented. “Those teams were ranked ahead of us in the preseason and hopefully in the next rankings we’ll be ahead of them.”
Purdue’s Maria Hernandez and Illinois State’s Samantha Richdale earned co-medalist honors as they each carded a two-under par 214 to top the 77-golfer field. They both fired a one-over par 73 on the day, while Nakazaki’s Sunday round of 71 tied for the low mark of the day. Her previous 54-hole low mark was a 217, which was the Notre Dame standard until she snapped it this weekend. That score occurred in her first-ever collegiate event, the Cougar Classic during the 2003-04 campaign.
“It was kind of rainy and windy today but my putter was on,” Nakazki said. “I hung in there and it was exciting and fun. We did well as a team even though we didn’t meet our goal of 295. We just hung tight and stayed positive and did really well. For me personally, my previous low was a one-over par and I was happy to beat that.”
Also establishing a personal-best for the Irish was senior Lauren Gebauer (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), who carded a six-over par 222 (75-73-74) to place 11th overall. Fellow senior Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) tied for 31st after registering a 15-over par 231 (78-75-78).
Each team entered six golfers with the lowest four scores counting towards the teams overall score. Junior Stacy Brown (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) competed as an individual entrant and ended up placing in a tie for 51st overall with a 21-over par 237 (80-77-80) total. Joining Brown in the four-way tie at 51st was her sophomore teammate Jane Lee (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula). Lee carded rounds of 81, 74 and 82.
Freshman Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) began the day in a tie for 58th and would conclude the afternoon in that same spot. Maunu shot an 81 to bring her total to 240 (80-79-81) in her first collegiate event as a member of the scoring team for the Fighting Irish. Senior Suzie Hayes (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto College) rounded out the field for the Irish with a 29-over 245 (83-80-82).
Next up for the Irish will be the Shoot-Out at The Legends tournament at The Legends of Indiana Golf Course in Franklin, Ind. on Oct. 10th and 11th. For additional information on the Notre Dame women’s golf team, please log on to und.com or call the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Lady Northern Invitational (Indiana University Golf Course – Bloomington, Ind., Par 72, 6,142-yards)
Team Results (54-hole totals): 1. Purdue 867 (288-286-293), 2. Michigan State 887 (298-294-295), 3. Penn State 894 (293-296-305), 4. Notre Dame 903 (303-296-304), 5. Indiana 909 (307-297-305), 6. Michigan 916 (296-312-308), 7. Northwestern 917 (312-300-308), 8. Illinois 919 (314-301-304), 9. Illinois State 920 (304-304-312), 10. Iowa 925 (300-302-323), 11. Wisconsin 933 (313-304-316), 12. Minnesota 934 (313-310-311).
Top-5 Golfers out of 77 (54-hole totals): 1t. Maria Hernandez (Purdue) 214 (70-71-73), 1t. Samantha Richdale (Illinois State) 214 (72-69-73), 3. Noriko Nakazaki (Notre Dame) 215 (70-74-71), 4t. Myrte Eikenaar (Purdue) 217 (73-73-71), 4t. Onnarin Sattayabanphot (Purdue) 217 (73-71-73).
Other Notre Dame Scores (54-hole totals): 11. Lauren Gebauer 222 (75-73-74), 31t. Katie Brophy 231 (78-75-78), 51t. Stacy Brown* 237 (80-77-80), 51t. Jane Lee 237 (81-74-82), 58t. Lisa Maunu 240 (80-79-81), 65t. Suzie Hayes 245 (83-80-82).
*- competed as an individual entrant
— ND –