Feb. 11, 2009
PALOS VERDES, Calif. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team finished in 12th place at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at the Palos Verdes Golf Club. The Irish shot the sixth-lowest team score of the day as they combined to post a 305.
The Irish took an impressive 16 strokes off their second round score of 321 to post a 305. Junior Annie Brophy (Spoakne, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) led the last day charge as she carded a plus-one 72, tying for the second-lowest round of the day. Brophy finished with a plus-27 (85-83-72-240) mark for the tournament, tying for a 44th-place finish. Her impressive third round included birdies on the 5th, 14th and 16th as well as 11 pars.
Notre Dame’s sophomore All-American So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep) finished in a tie for 20th, the best finish by an Irish entrant. In the final round, she shot a plus-six 77. She finished with a three round mark of plus-20 (80-76-77-233). Her final round included a birdie at the eighth and 11 pars.
Freshman Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton HS) also shot a plus-six 77 in her third round, putting her in a 41st-place tie with a score of plus-24 (82-78-77-237). In the third round, she notched eight pars and birdies on the third, eighth and tenth.
Sophomore Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) and senior captain Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) each carded plus-eight 79’s to tie for the final scoring position. The Irish, along with UCLA and Denver, were one of only three teams to have all five players break 80 on the final day.
Maunu’s 79 put her at plus-34 (83-85-79-247) for the tournament. She had six pars and back-to-back bridies at the sixth and seventh in her final round of play. Conway finished with a plus-37 (87-84-79-250) mark for the tournament. She had a birdie on the tenth and seven pars on the final day.
Arizona State finished in first place with a plus-46 (898) mark. The Sun Devils’ wire-to-wire win over the other 15 teams was led by Juliana Murcia, who earned medalist honors by carding a plus one (214).
The Irish return to action Friday, March 13 when they travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to take part in the LSU/Cleveland Classic. The tournament will be played at the LSU Golf Course.
Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge (Palos Verdes Golf Club – Palos Verdes, Calif., Par 71, 5,912 Yards)
Team Scores (54-hole totals): 1. Arizona State (898), 2. Wake Forest (916), 3. UCLA (917), 4. USC (919), 5. Denver (929), 6. Michigan State (937), 7. California (944), t8. Florida (948), t8. Baylor (948), 10. Pepperdine (950), 11. Ohio State (951), 12. Notre Dame (956), 13. Stanford (960), 14. East Carolina (965), 15. Texas A&M (972), 16. BYU (978).
Top-5 Golfers (54-hole totals): 1. J. Murcia (ASU/214), t2. C. Ciganda (ASU/222), t2. J. Song (USC/222), t4. R. O’Toole (UCLA/225), t4. N. Hill (Wake Forest/225).
— ND —