Nov. 13, 2001

Corpus Christi, Texas – The Notre Dame women’s golf team closed out the fall portion of the 2001-02 schedule with a fourth place finish at the Texas A&M at Corpus Christi Islander Fall Classic on Tuesday afternoon. The Irish fired a 54-hole total of 968 on the 5,930-yard, par 71 Kings Crossing Golf and Country Club course turning in rounds of 321 and 324 on Monday before adding today’s final round of 323.

Notre Dame finished 47 strokes behind tournament champion Baylor as the Bears led from start-to-finish with a 69-over par team-total of 921 (300-312-309). That gave Baylor a 38-stroke margin over second-place finisher North Texas State (309-319-331-959). Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was third just four strokes ahead of the Irish. The Islanders shot a 964-total on rounds of 312, 329 and 323. McLennan Junior College (324-335-329-988) and Eastern Michigan (328-322-328-988) rounded out the top five team finishers.

Individually, Baylor’s Nicole Johnson led five Baylor golfers among the top eight finishers. Johnson also led from start-to-finish with a 15-over par 228 on rounds of 71, 76 and 81. She went into today’s final round with a five-stroke lead, shot an 81, and still won the tournament by two strokes. Baylor would have had a 1-2-3 finish if not for the play of Notre Dame freshman Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, Calif.). Lotta finished four strokes behind Johnson with a 232 total after shooting 78-80-74. That tied her with Baylor’s Melanie Hagewood (81-73-78-232) and put her two strokes behind second-place finisher Tara Bateman who fired a 54-hole total of 230 (75-77-78).

North Texas State’s Randi Gauthier, who went into the final round of play five strokes behind Johnson, also shot an 81 after Monday’s rounds of 76-76 for a 233 total. She finished tied for fifth with Baylor’s Michaelyn Morgan (76-80-77-233).

Notre Dame placed three golfers among the top 20 finishers. After Lotta came sophomore Shannon Byrne (Arlington Heights, Ill.) who tied for 15th, 15 strokes off Johnson’s tournament leading pace with a 243-total on rounds of 77, 85 and 81. Junior Terri Taibl (Elm Grove, Wis.) tied for 17th, just a stroke behind Byrne with a 244 (83-76-85).

Rounding out the Notre Dame golfers was sophomore Rebecca Rogers (Alpharetta, Ga.) who tied for 32nd with a 251 (84-84-83) and senior Lauren Fuchs (Lexington, Ken.) who finished 39th with a 253 (83-84-86).

FINAL TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. Baylor 300-312-309-921, 2. North Texas State 309-319-331-959, 3. Texas A&M Corpus Christi 312-329-323-964, 4. Notre Dame 321-324-323-968, 5. McLennan JC 324-335-329-988, Eastern Michigan 328-332-328-988, 7. Wichita State 334-327-328-989, 8. Southwest Texas St. 340-332-343-1015, 9. Loyola 346-339-337-1022, 10. Centenary 343-361-346-1050, 11. Texas-Pan American 351-383-360-1094, 12. Nicholls State 375-353-369-1097, 13. Chicago State 358-384-376-1118.

TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (of 71): 1. Nicole Johnson (Baylor) 71-76-81-228, 2. Tara Bateman (Baylor) 75-77-78-230, 3. Karen Lotta (Notre Dame) 78-80-74-232, Melanie Hagewood (Baylor) 81-73-78-232, 5. Randi Gauthier (North Texas) 76-76-81-233, Michaelyn Morgan (Baylor) 76-80-77-233, 7. Laura Walker (McLennan JC) 81-77-77-235, 8. Kelli McKandless (Baylor) 79-79-78-236, 9. Jennifer Rogers (North Texas) 74-82-83-239, 10. Alessandra Perez (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) 80-83-77-240, Liza Mucheru (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) 76-84-80-240.

NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 71): t3. Karen Lotta 78-80-74-232, t15. Shannon Byrne 77-85-81-243, t17. Terri Taibl 83-76-85-249, t32. Rebecca Rogers 84-84-83-251, t39. Lauren Fuchs 83-84-86-253.