Junior Lisa Maunu's three-round score of 225 (+9) led the Irish at the NCAA Central Regional.

Irish Lead The Field After First Round Of BIG EAST Championship

April 20, 2008

BATAVIA, Ohio – An eight-over par 296 has the No. 23 Notre Dame women’s golf team in first place following Sunday’s first round of the BIG EAST Championship at the par 72, 6,080-yard Elks Run Golf Club. The Irish lead Louisville by six shots heading into Monday’s second round. Junior co-captain Lisa Maunu (St. Thomas, Ontario/Parkside Collegiate Institute) sits atop the individual leaderboard as she carded a one-over par 73 for the Irish.

Maunu is one-shot in front of a pack of five golfers that are currently tied for second. Among that group is two Fighting Irish golfers, sophomore Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) and freshman So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep). Maunu, whose one-over par total on Sunday was her top round of the spring, and Brophy both led the Irish with three birdies apiece during the first 18 holes of play.

Notre Dame sophomore Kristin Wetzel (Middletown, N.Y./Hilton Head Prep) is also near the top of the standings as she is in seventh place after firing a three-over par 75. Rounding out the Irish competitors on the day was freshman Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River), who recorded a 79 (+7) and is tied for 19th.

Following the Irish and Cardinals among the seven-team field is Cincinnati, the host for the event. The Bearcats notched a 306 on the day and Georgetown is two shots in back of that with a 308. St. John’s (315), South Florida (319) and Rutgers (341) round out the order after the first round of the three-round tournament.

The second round of the BIG EAST Championship will begin on Monday with 8:00 a.m. (ET) tee times. The Irish have scheduled tee times from 9:40 a.m.-10:20 a.m. The third and final round will take place on Tuesday. Live scoring of the BIG EAST Championship is available through Golfstat.com. For more information, including results after each day’s round, log onto bigeast.org.

2008 BIG EAST Women’s Golf Championship
Elks Run Golf Club
Batavia, Ohio, Par 72, 6,080 yards

Team Scores (18-hole totals): 1. Notre Dame 296, 2. Louisville 302, 3. Cincinnati 306, 4. Georgetown 308, 5. St. John’s 315, 6. South Florida 319, 7. Rutgers 341

Top-7 Golfers (of 35): 1. Lisa Maunu (Notre Dame) 73, 2t. Annie Brophy (Notre Dame) 74, 2t. So-Hyun Park (Notre Dame) 74, 2t. Marianne Erb (Cincinnati) 74, 2t. Cindy LaCrosse (Louisville) 74, 2t. Brittany Lambertson (St. John’s) 74, 7. Kristin Wetzel (Notre Dame) 75

Notre Dame Scores: 1. Lisa Maunu 73, 2t. Annie Brophy 74, 2t. So-Hyun Park 74, 7. Kristin Wetzel 75, 19t. Katie Conway 79