May 5, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s golf team carded a 10-over par 298, the lowest round at the NCAA Tournament in program history at the NCAA Central Regional on the Warren Golf Course in Notre Dame, Ind. The team is currently in third place. Despite windy conditions, 45th-ranked Nicole Zhang (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) leads the Irish with a 71 (-1) and is tied for first place in the first round of play.
The Irish were set to have an 8:00 a.m. (ET) tee time, but due to frost on the course Zhang didn’t tee off the first until 9:15 a.m. From there, the freshman bogeyed holes two and four, which placed her at two-over par, but with back-to-back birdies she completed the front nine with an even-par 36. Moving into the final nine holes, Zhang played every hole at par except 17, which she birdied to place her at one-under par on the day.
Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton) came out strong with a birdie on hole two, but with bogeys on holes seven and eight the junior finished the front nine at one-over par. Huffer carded three bogeys on the back nine and a birdie on hole 17, which placed her score at a three-over par 75 and tied her for 26th place.
Seniors So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep. Academy) and Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading) are both tied for 36th place and carded a four-over par 76 on the day to round out the Irish score. The seniors bogeyed the fourth and ninth holes on the front nine of the course, while they both birdied the 17th hole.
Four of the five members of the lineup bogeyed the fourth hole and four birdied the 17th hole.
Freshman Kristina Nhim (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) completed the first day of the three-day tournament at a five-over par 77.
UCLA is currently in first place at 291 (+3) and Ani Gulugian (UCLA) is in a tie for first place with Zhang. Following the Bruins are LSU in second place, Notre Dame in third place, Minnesota in fourth, and Duke, Northwestern, and Stanford in a fifth-place deadlock.
Nhim tees off of the 10th hole for the Irish Friday at 12:20 p.m. to begin the second round of the 2011 NCAA Central Regional.
Top-10 Teams
1. UCLA (291/+3)
2. LSU (295/+7)
3. NOTRE DAME (298/+10)
4. Minnesota (301/+13)
T5. Duke (302/+14)
T5. Northwestern (302/+14)
T5. Stanford (302/+14)
8. Chattanooga (303/+15)
9. Kent State (304/+16)
T10. Ohio State (306/+18)
T10. Texas (306/+18)
Notre Dame
T1. Nicole Zhang (71/-1)
T26. Becca Huffer (75/+3)
T36. Katie Conway (76/+4)
T36. So-Hyun Park (76/+4)
T43. Kristina Nhim (77/+5)
–ND–