Sept. 26, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team concluded play Sunday at the annual Michigan State Mary Fossum Invitational, slipping from eighth to a 12th-place finishing following final-round action at the par-72, 5,780-yard Forest Akers West Golf Course.
Notre Dame stood in a three-way tie for eighth after Saturday’s opening round (321) and completed the suspended second round on Sunday morning with a disappointing total of 333 in the play-six, count-four format. The Irish then closed with a 325 in Sunday’s third and final round for a 979 tournament total, just four strokes behind Illinois in the 18-team event.
Irish junior Shane Smith cooled off after an opening-round 76, finishing with rounds of 84 and 81 for a 241 total and a share of 33rd in the 108-player field.
Notre Dame sophomore Kristin McMurtrie again played three consistent rounds, tying for 47th with a 244 total (82-80-82). Juniors Danielle Villarosa (84-82-85) and Mary Klein each finished at 251, with Klein bouncing back from a pair of 87s to close with a 77.
Freshmen Priscilla Ro (79-87-86) fell off after a solid first round while sophomore Lauren Fuchs (94-90-87) showed improvement in each round.
Indiana used rounds of 298-304-299 to run away with the team title, finishing 22 strokes ahead of upstart Kent (923)-which edged Northwestern by a single shot.
Ohio University’s Julee Sovesky (76-69-77) used a strong second round to edge Indiana’s Natalie Tucker (74-77-72) by one stroke for individual medalist honors.
The Irish continued to play without senior captain Andrea Klee, who remains out indefinitely with a forearm injury suffered during the summer of ’99 .
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (54 holes): 1. Indiana 298-304-299/901, 2. Kent 306-312-305/923, 3. Northwestern 307-308-309/924, 4. Michigan State 320-311-303/934, 5. Ohio University 308-320-315/934, 6. Wisconsin 317-311-316/944, Minnesota 315-313-316/944, 8. Penn State 321-319-312/952, 9. James Madison 324-313-316/953, 10. Michigan 321-322-319/962, 11. Illinois 322-314-339/975, 12. Notre Dame 321-333-325/979, 13. Illinois State 328-330-324/982, 14. Kansas State 325-333-331/989, 15. Toledo 329-331-339/999, 16. Cincinnati 325-344-347/1016, 17. Northern Illinois 338-336-343/1017, 18. Western Michigan 342-339-342/1023.
TOP INDIVIDUALS (of 108): 1. Julee Sovesky (OHIO) 76-69-77/222, 2. Natalie Tucker (IU) 74-77-72/223, 3. Sami Montgomery (IU) 72-76-77/225, Tiffany Fisher (IU) 78-73-74/225, 5. Allie Bloomquist (WIS) 76-75-75/226, 6. Jan Dowling (KENT) 72-77-78/227, Karyn Stordahl (MINN) 78-74-75/227, 8. Elizabeth Burden (NW) 77-74-77/228, 9. Cheryl Tooshkenig (KENT) 74-79-76/229.
NOTRE DAME SCORES: 33. Shane Smith 76-84-81/241, 47. Kristin McMurtrie 82-80-82/244, 66. Mary Klein 87-87-77/251, 66. Danielle Villarosa 84-82-85/251, 70. Priscilla Ro 79-87-86/252, 97. Lauren Fuchs 94-90-87/271.