July 10, 2012
Coral Springs, Fla. – Four members of the Notre Dame women’s golf team have been named to the National Golf Coaches Association (NGCA) All-American Scholar Team at the Division I level. Seniors Katie Allare (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo.) are joined by freshmen Ashley Armstrong (Flossmoor, Ill.) and Kelli Oride (Lihue, Hawaii) all received the honor with the four Irish golfers being the most ever selected in school history for one season. Notre Dame has had three student-athletes selected following six different seasons, most recently, the 2010-11 campaign.
The foursome was among 602 women’s collegiate golfers from Division I, II and III recognized with this prestigious honor. The criteria for selection to the NGCA All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all college athletics. The minimum GPA is 3.50 and student-athletes must have competed in at least 50% (Division I) or 66% (Division II or III) of the college or university’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year.
Allare was a regular in the Irish lineup this season, playing in all 10 of the team’s tournaments while turning in an 81.14 average for the year. She had one top 25 finish and for her career played 54 rounds with an 80.19 average. She graduated from Notre Dame in May with a degree in political science. Allare and her teammates were part of a record-setting academic year for the program as for the third consecutive semester; the Irish women’s golf program recorded the highest team GPA among all Notre Dame athletic teams. In the spring of 2011, the team had a 3.638 grade-point average and then followed it in the fall with a 3.655 mark. They surpassed that with a 3.776 mark for the spring of 2012 with four members of the team being named to the Dean’s List.
Huffer closed out her brilliant Notre Dame career in 2011-12, leading the team with a 75.34 average while recording four top 10 finishes and five top 25 finishes. During the season, she won her first tournament championship, finishing first at the Hoosier Fall Invitational in October of 2011. Huffer would go on to finish fifth at the BIG EAST Championship in April and was named all-BIG EAST for the fourth time in her career, becoming just the third Irish and BIG EAST golfer to take the honor in four consecutive seasons. She closed her Notre Dame career by helping lead the Irish to their fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Central Regional and tied for the team’s top finish by tying for 26th. A two-time Notre Dame Monogram Club team Most Valuable Player (2010, 2012), Huffer finished her career with a 75.19 career stroke-average, the lowest average by any Irish golfer with over 100 career rounds. She finished with 12 top-10 finishes and 28 top 25’s in her career while 123 of her 129 career rounds (95.3%) counted towards team scoring. She was the winner of the Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley’s Rockne Scholar-Athlete Award and graduated in May from Notre Dame with a degree in industrial design. Huffer turned professional following her final season and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open for the first time.
Armstrong had a brilliant freshman season both in the classroom and on the golf course. For the season, she played in all 29 rounds and was second to Huffer with a 75.62 stroke average while having one top-10 finish and six top 25 finishes for the year. She won her first collegiate tournament, taking the BIG EAST Championship in April, winning in a three-hole playoff that earned her all-BIG EAST and BIG EAST freshman golfer of the year honors. During the season, she turned in the best round of the year for the Irish, firing a five-under par 67 in the opening round of the Notre Dame Clover Cup Tournament in Mesa, Ariz., in March. She also qualified and played in the U.S. Women’s Open for the first time at Blackwolf Run Golf Course in Kohler, Wis. She was enrolled in the First Year of Studies at Notre Dame.
Oride is the fourth member of the team to take NGCA All-American Scholar Honors this season. The native of Hawaii played in all 10 tournaments for Notre Dame this season and had a 78.66 scoring average with one top-10 finish and a pair of top 25 finishes on her resume. She got her collegiate career off to a fast start by leading the team in the Golfweek Conference Challenge in September of 2011, finishing in a tie for 32nd with a 230 total, including a third-round 73. Her best finish of the season came at the Hoosier Fall Invitational where she finished five strokes behind Huffer in a tie for fourth place with a nine-over par 225 to help Notre Dame to a second-place finish. As a freshman at Notre Dame, she was enrolled in the First Year of Studies program and plans to major in business.
Since the 1992-93 season, Notre Dame has had 36 women’s golfers named to the NGCA All-American Scholar Team. Katie Conway `11 and So-Hyun Park `11 were both selected to the team four times during their careers.