Sept. 27, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Irish women’s golf team finished tied for third at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, which was shortened to 36-holes after Saturday’s round was cancelled due to rain. The Irish combined to shoot a 294 on Sunday, putting them at 26-over par (598) for the tournament. Junior So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep) led the Irish with a one-over par 72 on the final day of play, earning a share of eighth place.
Notre Dame tied Chattanooga for third, while Florida State (+15/587) finished first followed by UCF (+20/592) in second. Paula Hurtado of Florida International and Macarena Silva of Florida State tied atop the individual leaderboard, as both players turned in even-par 143’s.
Park, who entered the day tied for 13th, had four birdies on the day to go along with 11 pars to help her move up four places on the leaderboard. Her eighth place finish marked the best finish by an Irish golfer through two events this season.
Sophomore Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton) and senior Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) tied for 14th with plus-six 149 totals. Huffer carded a two-over par 73 on Sunday, while Brophy turned in a plus-four 75. Huffer got off to a fast start with birdies on two of her first three holes and the reigning BIG EAST Rookie of the year went on to add two more birdies on her final 16 holes of play. Brophy had 14 pars and a birdie in her final round. Huffer has now finished tied for 14th in both of Notre Dame’s tournaments this season.
Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y.) rounded out the final day scoring for the Irish. The junior shot a three-over par 74 on Sunday, giving her a tournament total of 10-over par (153). By carding her lowest round of the season thus far (74), she moved into a tie for 36th.
Senior Kristin Wetzel (Middletown, N.Y./Hilton Head Prep) tied for 62nd with a plus-19 162 total. She took 10 shots off of her first round total to card a five-over par 76 on Sunday.
Sophomore Katie Allare (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier Prep) and senior Julie Kim (Bayside, N.Y./Bayside) played as individuals. Allare shot a final day 10-over par 81 to finish tied for 59th in her collegiate debut. Kim shot an 11-over par 82 to finish with a 20-over par 163 mark.
Par at Kentucky’s Big Blue course was altered to 71 for the final round of play. The 15th hole was changed to a 185-yard par 3, shortening the course to 5,916 yards in length.
The Irish will play their next tournament in Chicago, Ill., as they travel north for Northwestern’s Windy City Collegiate. The two-day event will be played on October 5 and 6 at the Glen Club.
The Bettie Lou Evans Invitational – The UK Golf Club
Top-Five Team Scores (36-hole totals): 1. Florida State (587); 2. UCF (592); t3. Chattanooga (598); t3. Notre Dame (598); 5. Kennesaw State (601).
Top-Five Golfers (36-hole scores): t1. Macarena Silva (Florida State/143); t1. Paula Hurtado (Fla. International/143); t3. Jessica Alexander (Coastal Carolina/145); t3. Victoria Tomko (UCF/145); t5. Lacey Agnew (Florida State/146); t5. Elisa Aoki (UCF/146); Emma de Groot (UCF/146).
Notre Dame Scores (36-hole totals): t8. So-Hyun Park (75-72-147); t14. Becca Huffer (76-73-149); t14. Annie Brophy (74-75-149); t36. Katie Conway (79-74-153); t62. Kristin Wetzel (86-76-162); t59. Katie Allare (I/79-81-160); t66. Julie Kim (I/81-82-163).
— ND —