April 4, 2004
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -
The Notre Dame women's golf team finished in fifth place at the Indiana Invitational after turning in a final-round 317 on Sunday for a 54-hole total of 46-over par 934 (303-314-317). The Irish began the day 12 strokes off the lead in the high-caliber field of 15, but ended the tourney 26 shots behind the mark of 908 by tournament-winner Missouri, which came from second place, seven shots down after two rounds, by shooting a final-round 296 to go with scores of 301 and 311 on Saturday. The Tigers won the tournament by 13 strokes over second-place Michigan State (300-305-316--921), which led after 36 holes. The 54-hole event was played with a "six-count-four" format at the par-74, 6,134-yard Indiana University Golf Course.
The Irish were led individually by sophomore Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) who entered the final 18 holes as the tournament leader by one stroke. Brophy, however, was unable to secure her third first-place finish as a collegian at the IU event. After shooting stellar rounds of two-under par 72, the lowest sub-par round of her Notre Dame career, and 74 on the first day, Brophy concluded the tourney with a 54-hole score of one-over par 223 after carding a 77 on Sunday, placing her in a tie for second out of 95 golfers. Brophy, who finished tied with Missouri's Denise Knaebel (73-74-76--223), came in five strokes shy of medalist Karen Dennison of the host Hoosiers as Dennison shot back-to-back three-under par 71's in the second and third rounds to give her a four-under tournament performance of 218 (76-71-71). Brophy's three-round mark of 223 matched her second lowest 54-hole score since becoming a member of the Irish, two strokes off her career-best 221 (75-72-74) she fired in the Shootout at the Legends of Indiana this past fall.
Junior Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) was second among Notre Dame participants in Bloomington. Lotta turned in 18-hole totals of 80, 76 and 79 for a spring-low, three-round score of 235, which was good for a 17th-place tie.
After Lotta came the two freshmen on the 2003-04 Irish roster,
Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill.) and
Stacy Brown (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands). Nakazaki tied for 27th with a 54-hole mark of 238, firing an impressive opening-round 73, followed by rounds of 84 and 81. Brown carded scores of 78, 86 and 80 for an event-total of 244, putting her in a tie for 43rd.
Sophomore Sarah Bassett (Spokane, Wash./Lewis and Clark) and senior co-captain Rebecca Rogers (Alpharetta, Ga./Centennial) rounded out the Irish lineup at the Indiana Invitational. Bassett finished tied for 56th as she shot a 247 (81-82-84) for 54 holes. Rogers, who played as a member of the scoring lineup for the first time since last spring at the 2003 Peggy Kirk Bell, turned in marks of 80, 82 and 90 for a 54-hole score of 252.
Notre Dame will be off the links next weekend for the Easter holiday and will be in action again Saturday-Sunday, April 17-18, at the Lady Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind.
-- ND --
TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. Missouri 908 (301-311-296); 2. Michigan St. 921 (300-305-316); 3. Indiana 923 (308-307-308); 4. Iowa 932 (312-309-311); 5. Notre Dame 934 (303-314-317), 6. Kent St. 940 (317-307-316); 7. Arkansas-Little Rock 944 (315-304-325); 8. Toledo 949 (319-312-318); 9. Michigan 955 (319-317-319); 10. Illinois St. 958 (321-319-318); 11. Ohio U. 967 (318-321-328); 12. Wisconsin 973 (320-320-333); 13. Minnesota 974 (319-324-331); 14. Marshall 985 (327-328-330); 15. Eastern Michigan 998 (337-324-337).
TOP 11 INDIVIDUALS (of 95): 1. Karen Dennison (Indiana) 218 (76-71-71); 2.(tie) Katie Brophy (Notre Dame) 223 (72-74-77), Denise Knaebel (Missouri) 223 (73-74-76); 4. Kelly Strubinger (Missouri) 224 (72-81-71); 5. Gabby Wedding (Kent St.) 225 (80-70-75); 6.(tie) Liz Bennett (Iowa) 227 (77-75-75), Breanne Hall (Toledo) 227 (74-76-77); 8. Martina Gillen (Kent St.) 228 (73-79-76); 9.(tie) Linda Svensson (Ark.-LR) 230 (77-75-78), Ann Marie Kersten (Mich. St.) 230 (70-80-80), Sarah Martin (Mich. St.) 230 (78-73-79).
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 95): 2.(tie) Katie Brophy 223 (72-74-77); 17.(tie) Karen Lotta 235 (80-76-79), 27.(tie) Noriko Nakazaki 238 (73-84-81); 43.(tie) Stacy Brown 244 (78-86-80); 56.(tie) Sarah Bassett 247 (81-82-84); 74.(tie) Rebecca Rogers 252 (80-82-90).
