April 17, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Notre Dame entered Sunday’s play at the Lady Buckeye Invitational in eighth place and that is where the team stayed following the third and final round. After an up and down two rounds of play on Saturday which saw the Irish record totals of 317 and 302, the squad posted a third round score of 308 to close out with a 927 and in eighth out of the 15-team field at the par 72, 6,201-yard Scarlet Golf Course. Junior co-captain Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) notched yet another team-leading effort and top-10 finish for the Irish with a seven-over par 223 (73-74-76) to place in a tie for sixth.
Michigan State won the team title with an 886 and Ohio State’s Lindsay Knowlton carded a four-under par 68 on Sunday en route to the individual crown with a tournament record-tying score of 214. The Buckeyes had a remarkable day as they registered a tournament-best round with an even-par 288 to finish with a three-round total of 895 and in second-place overall.
“I really would have liked to have placed in the top three but I played better than I have all semester,” said Brophy following Sunday’s play. “It’s kind of good to be frustrated with a seven-over par score. I feel it’s a step in the right direction. We still need to step it up starting next week at the BIG EAST (Championship). We’ll be at home so it’ll pretty much be a test against the golf course and ourselves.”
Fighting Irish sophomore Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) overcame a first round score of 80 to post a 70 and 76 over the final 36-holes to finish with a 10-over par 226 and in a tie for 11th. The Scarlet Course played at a par 72 for the entire tournament and not 73 as was reported on Saturday.
“I felt that we had an okay day today,” stated Irish head coach Debby King. “Ohio State has a very tough course and that makes the 302 that we shot there yesterday pretty fantastic. The greens were quite firm and it’s tough to keep the ball on the greens and it also makes for some tricky putts. But overall I felt that we beat the teams that we were supposed to beat and that we really didn’t lose any ground for regional.”
Freshman Jane Lee (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Peninsula) saved her best round for last with a three-over par 75 on Sunday to finish with a 242 (87-80-75) and tied for 50th while her junior teammate Suzie Hayes (Dublin, Ireland/Loreto College) was two shots behind with a 244 (83-78-83) and in a tie at 57th. The tournament format has each team counting the low four scores out of the six golfers who played for each round.
Senior Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) turned in a three-round total of 248 (83-84-81) to tie for 68th and sophomore Stacy Brown (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) carded a 250 (81-80-89) and placed tied for 70th to close out the scoring for the Irish.
“Now we just need to regroup for the BIG EAST (Championship) next week,” commented King. “We are very excited to be hosting it again and we hope to break 300 soon and there is no better place to do it than your home course.”
The Irish will play host to the BIG EAST Championship at the Warren Golf Course on Saturday April 23 and Sunday April 24. Continue to follow Notre Dame’s 2004-05 campaign by logging on to und.com or call the Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Lady Buckeye Invitational (Scarlet Golf Course – Columbus, Ohio, Par 72, 6,201-yards)
TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals):
1. Michigan State 886 (293-295-298), 2. Ohio State 895 (299-308-288), 3. Iowa 903 (305-298-300), 4. Kent State 909 (310-296-303), 5. Purdue 914 (310-299-305), 6. Northwestern 918 (305-306-307), 7. Western Michigan 920 (306-302-312), 8. Notre Dame 927 (317-302-308), 9. Toledo 941 (315-304-322), 10t. Penn State 955 (320-314-321), 10t. Ohio U. 955 (324-311-320), 12. Eastern Michigan 965 (327-322-316), 13. Indiana 970 (319-330-321), 14. Marshall 978 (329-318-331), 15. Bowling Green 989 (338-328-323).
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (top four of 93 plus Notre Dame individuals):
1.Lindsay Knowlton (Ohio State) 214 (73-73-68), 2. Rachel Meikle (Michigan State) 219 (72-74-73), 3t. Alice Kim (Northwestern) 221 (76-71-74), 3t. Tara Delaney (Kent State) 221 (77-72-72), 6t. Katie Brophy (ND) 223 (73-74-76), 11t. Noriko Nakazaki (ND) 226 (80-70-76), 50t. Jane Lee (ND) 242 (87-80-75), 57t. Suzie Hayes (ND) 244 (83-78-83), 68t. Karen Lotta (ND) 248 (83-84-81), 70t. Stacy Brown (ND) 250 (81-80-89).
— ND –