March 17, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Coming off a slow start to its spring campaign at the St. Croix Collegiate Classic (March 12-14), the Notre Dame women’s golf team is ready to get back on track Friday-Sunday, March 19-21, at the Baylor/Tapatio Springs Shootout in Boerne, Texas. Last season, the Irish finished eighth out of 12 at the Baylor/Tapatio Springs event (March 23-25, 2003), shooting 963 (318-326-319) as a team with current sophomore Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) leading Notre Dame with a 19-over par 235 (80-77-78). The Irish are coming off their worst outing of the season as they shot 959 (316-327-316) in the U.S. Virgin Islands tournament, which placed the team in a fifth-place tie with Xavier University and Boston College. Notre Dame is ranked 50th in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index ratings and is looking to secure the program’s first-ever berth in the NCAA Championships as they face 14 teams from their own Central Region in the Baylor tournament.
The Tournament: The Baylor/Tapatio Springs Shootout will be a three-day, 54-hole tournament played at the par-72, 5,185-yard Tapatio Springs Golf Resort. The event will consist of 18 holes on each day of the tournament and all three rounds will start with split tee times beginning at 8:30 (EST). Teams will be seeded for Saturday’s and Sunday’s tee times based on team scores for 18 holes and 36 holes, respectively.
The Teams: The Baylor/Tapatio Springs Shootout features a 19-team field that includes Arkansas State, Baylor, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, McLennan Community College, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico State, North Texas, Notre Dame, Rollins College, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-El Paso, Texas-Pan American, Texas Tech, Wisconsin and Xavier. The tournament boasts a very strong field as it is comprised of 12 top-100 teams, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, while three of the 14 Central Region teams in the tourney have a higher Golfweek/Sagarin rating than the Irish – Missouri (30th), Baylor (39th) and Indiana (46th).
Irish Lineup: Third-year Notre Dame head coach Debby King’s lineup in Texas will be a unique one, with this group never before playing together as the scoring five. King’s lineup features sophomores Lauren Gebauer (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), Sarah Bassett (Spokane, Wash./Lewis and Clark) and Brophy, as well as junior Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) and freshman Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates).
Last Tournament: Gebauer and Bassett, playing as individuals, turned in the two lowest marks among Irish golfers in the St. Croix event. Gebauer had a 237 (79-76-82) to earn a tie for 19th and Bassett finished in a 24th-place tie with a score of 239 (81-80-79). Brophy, Lotta and Nakazaki led Notre Dame’s top five in the U.S. Virgin Islands as all three players shot 54-hole totals of 240.
Tournament Results: Results will be available on the Notre Dame website at www.und.com on all three days of the tournament.
Next For The Irish: After the Baylor/Tapatio Springs Shootout, Notre Dame will have two weeks off before its next tournament, which will be April 3-4 at the Indiana Women’s Invitational.
– ND –