Sept. 20, 2008
East Lansing, Mich. –
The women’s golf team played the first and second rounds of the Mary Fossum Invitational, hosted by Michigan State, on Saturday. The team shot a plus-22 (310) in the first round before rallying to fire an even-par 288 in the second round. After 36-holes of play on the par-72, 6,236 yard course, the Irish are in third place in the 12-team field.
On the day, the Irish were led by sophomore So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep), who fired a minus-four in the second round, putting her in the lead after two rounds of play with a minus-two (142). In the morning round, Park fired a plus-two 74. Her second round included birdies on the second, fifth, 14th and 16th holes. The All-American takes a one shot lead into the last round of play. Her minus-four 68 represents the second lowest round in women’s golf history at Notre Dame, a feat that was equaled by Karen Lotta ’05 and bested only by teammate Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) in the first round of last year’s Cougar Classic, when she carded a 66.
In the first round of play, Maunu shot a plus-five. She followed that up with a one-over 73 in the afternoon session. Heading into the final day, she has a plus-six, good for a 13th place tie.
Junior Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) and freshman Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton HS) each shot plus-eight 80’s in the first round to score for the Irish scoring. Huffer knocked off seven strokes form her previous total to card a plus-one 73 in the second round, while Brophy shaved six strokes off of her first round score to shoot a plus-two 74 in the afternoon. The duo’s second round totals rounded out the Irish scoring in the second round.
Kristin Wetzel (Middletown, N.Y./Hilton Head Prep) carded a plus-seven 79 in the morning, which scored for the Irish. She then carded a plus-six 78 in the afternoon. Entering Sunday’s final round, she is plus-13.
Sophomore Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) entered the tournament as an independent, thus excluding her from being entered into the Irish team score, but she had a strong day as well. She was able to shoot a plus-one 73 in the first round to lead all the Irish golfers in the morning session. She followed that up with a plus-six 78 in the afternoon. At plus-seven, she is in a tie for 15th place entering the final round of play.
The Irish are back in action tomorrow morning, with tee times beginning at 8:30 a.m. The Irish trail leaders Kent State by seven strokes entering the final round of play. Live hole-by-hole scoring of the Mary Fossum Invitational is available through Golfstat. To access the site go to http://www.golfstatresults.com.
Mary Fossum Invitational (Forest Akers West Golf Club – East Lansing, Mich. , Par 72, 6,236 Yards)
Team Scores (36-hole totals): 1. Kent State (+15), 2. Michigan State (+17), 3. Notre Dame (+22), 4. Minnesota (+27), 5. Missouri (+28), t6. Northwestern (+42), t6. Western Michigan (42), t6. Northwestern (+42), 9. Iowa (+46), 10. Michigan (+49), 11. Toledo (+55), 12. Ferris State (+56).
Top-5 Golfers (36-hole totals): 1. So-Hyun Park (142/Notre Dame), 2. Kirby Dreher (143/Kent State), 3. Martina Gavier (144/Kent State), 4. Aimee Neff (145/Michigan State), 5. Mercedes Germino (146/Kent State).
Notre Dame Scores (36-hole totals): 1. So-Hyun Park 142, t13. Lisa Maunu 150, t15. Katie Conway 151, t22. Becca Huffer 153, t26. Annie Brophy 154, t38. Kristin Wetzel 157 –ND–