March 7, 2008
RIO VERDE, Ariz. – The No. 20 Notre Dame women’s golf team carded a six-over par 294 during Friday’s first round of the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational at the Rio Verde Country Club’s par 72, 6,313-yard Quail Run Course. The Fighting Irish currently reside in second place after shooting their top round of the semester. Notre Dame is three shots in back of Texas Tech heading into Saturday’s second round.
Arkansas-Little Rock is in third place, among the field of 18 teams, with a 298. Rounding out the top five is Minnesota and Illinois State, who are tied for fourth with identical 300 scores.
Fighting Irish sophomore Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) matched a career-best round with a one-under par 71. She is among a four-way tie for second place, just three shots off the pace established by Texas Tech’s Ulrika van Niekerk, who shot a four-under par 68.
Notre Dame freshman So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep) fired an even-par 72 and is in a two-way tie for sixth among the 107 golfers. Two shots in back of Park is her sophomore teammate Kristin Wetzel (Middletown, N.Y./Hilton Head Prep), who registered a 74 and is in an eight-way tie at 13th.
Freshman Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) and sophomore Julie Kim (Bayside, N.Y./Bayside) are both among an eight-way tie for 32nd for the Irish as they posted five-over par 77s. Kim, who is playing as an individual entrant, is competing in her first event of the 2007-08 season. Junior Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) shot an 81 during the first round of play and is tied for 70th.
Saturday’s second round of the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational will get underway with a shotgun start at 8:00 a.m. (MT). The third and final round will take place on Sunday with an 8:00 a.m. (MT) shotgun start. Live scoring is available through Golfstat.com and results will be posted daily on www.wmubroncos.com. For additional information please log on to und.com or call the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational
Rio Verde Country Club – Quail Run Course – Rio Verde, Ariz., Par 72, 6,313 yards
Team Scores (18-hole totals): 1. Texas Tech 291, 2. Notre Dame 294, 3. Arkansas-Little Rock 298, 4t. Minnesota 300, 4t. Illinois State 300, 6. Eastern Michigan 303, 7t. Western Michigan 305, 7t. Toledo 305, 7t. Northern Arizona 305, 10. Ball State 307, 11. Wisconsin 308, 12. Bradley 309, 13t. Missouri State 311, 13t. Cincinnati 311, 15. Bowling Green 316, 16. Southern Illinois 318, 17. Xavier 320, 18. Ohio 328
Top-5 Golfers (of 107): 1. Ulrika van Niekerk (Texas Tech) 68, 2t. Annie Brophy (Notre Dame) 71, 2t. Mallory Fraiche (Arkansas-Little Rock) 71, 2t. Stacey Miller (Illinois State) 71, 2t. Sara Wikstrom (Arkansas-Little Rock) 71
Notre Dame Scores: 2t. Annie Brophy 71, 6t. So-Hyun Park 72, 13t. Kristin Wetzel 74, 32t. Katie Conway 77, 32t. Julie Kim 77*, 70t. Lisa Maunu 81
* – competing as an individual entrant
— ND —