Aug. 10, 2004
ERIE, Pa. – Notre Dame rising junior Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) carved her niche in school history on Tuesday afternoon, becoming the first Irish women’s golfer ever to qualify for match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. Brophy fired a six-over par 150 (77-73) during two rounds of stroke play at the par-72, 6,365-yard Kahkwa Club in Erie, Pa., winding up tied for 16th place in the 156-player field. The Notre Dame veteran is the No. 18 seed for the single-elimination match play competition and will face 47th-seeded Whitney Frykman, an incoming freshman at Purdue, in the first round at 12:02 p.m. (EDT) Wednesday. Brophy, a two-time all-BIG EAST Conference selection and the 2003 BIG EAST Championship co-medalist, turned in a strong second-round performance on Tuesday, carding two birdies and three bogeys en route to a one-over par 73. She was especially sharp over her final nine holes (the longer front side of the course), playing that circuit at an even-par 36. Another Notre Dame golfer, junior-to-be Lauren Gebauer (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington HS) shot a second-round 87 (+15) at the U.S. Women’s Amateur on Tuesday. Gebauer did not make the 64-player cut, finishing in a tie for 153rd place at 32-over par 176 (89-87). Amie Cochran of Torrance, Calif., earned medalist honors in stroke play, posting a three-under par 141. Meanwhile, 2003 U.S. Amateur Public Links Champion Michelle Wie struggled for the second consecutive day, but did make the cut, tying for 39th place at nine-over par 153. Two other notables were not as fortunate –seven-time USGA champion and 1973 U.S. Women’s Amateur winner Carol Semple Thompson (tied for 75th place at 13-over par 157) and 2003 BIG EAST Championship co-medalist Tina Miller from the University of Miami (Fla.) (tied for 85th place at 14-over par 158) did not advance to match play. The U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship has been contested annually since 1895, with this year marking the 104th version of the event. Past winners include LPGA legends Babe Didriksen Zaharias, JoAnne Carner, Beth Daniel and Juli Inkster. A full match-play bracket and in-progress scoring updates are available on the 2004 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship web site. A full recap of Brophy’s first-round match on Wednesday also will be available right here on the official Notre Dame athletics web site.
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