May 18, 2011
BRYAN, Texas – The University of Notre Dame women’s golf team concluded the first day of the four-day NCAA Championship tournament Wednesday with a 308 (+20) and is currently in a tie for 20th place at the Traditions Club Golf Course in Bryan, Texas. Senior captain Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) leads the Irish as she carded a three-over par 75 in the first round.
Conway remained even through the first seven holes, before registering a bogey on the seventh hole and the ninth hole to complete the front nine with a two-over par 38. The senior maintained a two-over par score until the 15th hole, before adding one more stroke on the 15th hole, which she maintained through the remaining three holes.
Freshman Kristina Nhim (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) played a even-par 36 through the front nine holes, followed by a birdie on the 10th hole to place her at one-under par to begin the backstretch. Nhim then carded a double bogey on the 11th hole and a one-over par score on the 12th hole to place the freshman at two-over par, which she held on holes 13 through 16, before bogeying the final two holes of the day for a four-over par score of 76. Freshman Nicole Zhang (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) recorded a five-over par 77 to begin the tournament. With bogeys on the first and fourth holes the freshman was quickly placed at two-over par, before improving by a stroke on the sixth hole with a birdie. Zhang carded a two-over par 38 through the initial nine holes and with four bogeys and a birdie on the back nine holes, she finished at 77 (+5) on the day.
Junior Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton) finished the day with an eight-over par 80 as she was at 39 (+3) through the first half of the course, which included four bogeys and one birdie. On the back half of the course she began the 10th hole with a double bogey and two additional bogeys to finish at five-over par 41 to round out the Irish score.
Senior So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep Academy) registered an 81 (+9) in the first round of play. The senior gave up six strokes in the first nine holes, while adding three in the back nine.
The Irish begin the second round of competition Thursday with a 12:40 p.m. (ET) tee time from the 10th hole.
Top-10 Team Leaderboard
1. UCLA (289/+1)
2. Virginia (291/+3)
T3. Purdue (292/+4)
T3. LSU (292/+4)
5. Florida (294/+6)
6. Texas A&M (295/+7)
7. Arizona State (296/+8)
8. Vanderbilt (297/+9)
9. Wake Forest (298/+10)
10. Tennessee (299/+11)
Notre Dame Leaderboard
Katie Conway (75/+3)
Kristina Nhim (76/+4)
Nicole Zhang (77/+5)
Becca Huffer (80/+8)
So-Hyun Park (81/+9)
–ND–