Sept. 7, 2004
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team kicked off this year’s season with a third place finish at the Fifth Annual Notre Dame Invitational this past weekend and on Tuesday, Sept. 7 the team announced its entire 2004-05 schedule. A trip to the Jeannine McHaney Invitational Sept. 24-26 in Lubbock, Texas highlights the fall slate. The tournamnet will be a NCAA Central Regional preview, which is hosted by Texas Tech University. The Irish will also play host to the 2005 BIG EAST Conference Championship April 23-24 at Warren Golf Course. Notre Dame returns to the course this Saturday, Sept. 11, to compete in the Lady Northern Invitational in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The two-day tournament is hosted by the University of Michigan. The Irish earned the chance to compete at the McHaney Invitational after qualifying for the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance last spring. Following the regional preview, the team will compete at the Shoot-Out at the Legends in Franklin, Indiana Oct. 4-5. The fall docket will conclude with trips to the Lady Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas Oct. 17-19 and the Edwin Watts/Palmetto Intercollegiate in Charleston, South Carolina Nov. 1-2. The Irish open the spring slate Feb. 21-22 at the Central District Classic, which is hosted by Michigan State, in Parrish, Florida. A trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands will follow as Notre Dame takes part in the St. Croix Collegiate Classic hosted by Xavier University March 11-13. Tournament’s at Purdue and Ohio State during the month of April will be key as the Irish gear up for another post-season. The Lady Boilermaker Invitational takes place April 9-10 and the Lady Buckeye Invitational follows one week later on April 16-17. The regular-season concludes with the Irish trying to defend their back-to-back BIG EAST Conference Championships. Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, IL/Hoffman Estates) led the way last year for Notre Dame, who is hosting the tournament for the third consecutive year. Nakazaki, currently a sophomore, placed third in her first-ever conference championship. Junior Katie Brophy (Spokane, WA/Gonzaga Prep) and senior Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, CA/Marymount), who established a Warren Golf Course record with a four-under par 68 last weekend at the Notre Dame Invitational, will look to repeat their top-10 finishes of a year ago. “We are excited because we have added four new tournaments, which are exceptionally strong,” said fourth-year Notre Dame head coach Debby King. “It’ll be tougher to win but we’ll be able to score more points to help us qualify for the NCAA Championship.”