May 19, 2011
BRYAN, Texas – The University of Notre Dame women’s golf team is in a tie for 20th place (618/+42) Thursday after the second round of the NCAA Championship at the Traditions Club Golf Course in Bryan, Texas. Junior Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton) carded a one-under par 71 during the round and is in a tie for 49th place with a 36-hole total of 151 (+7).
“We definitely need to improve our play during the next two rounds,” head coach Susan Holt said. “There is no question that there is room for improvement. We need to do a better job of getting ourselves out of trouble. I don’t think our game control has been very good. They are usually more disciplined, but we do still have two more days and there are a lot of things we are doing well.”
Huffer and the Irish began play on the back nine of the golf course and after recording birdies on holes 15 and 18 the junior was at two-under par before she made the turn to the front nine. On hole one, which has proved to be one of the toughest holes on the course as the Irish have played the hole at eight-over par as a team, Huffer carded a double bogey to place her at even par, but with back-to-back birdies on holes five and six she returned to two-under par and ended the round at 71 (-1) due to a bogey on the seventh hole.
Senior captain Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) played a consistent first nine holes as she birdied on hole No. 12, but evened out her score with a bogey on the 14th hole to complete the initial nine holes at an even-par 36. Conway remained at par until carding a double bogey on the third hole, followed by consecutive bogeys on the fifth and sixth holes to place her at four-over par. She concluded the round at 78 (+6) due to a double bogey on the eighth hole.
Freshman Nicole Zhang (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) registered a 79 (+7) during her second round. She was off to a rough start on the day as she carded bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes to begin play, but with a birdie on No. 13 she was at one-over par, before bogeying the 17th hole to take her through the first nine holes at 38 (+2). She added five strokes to her score during the back nine holes with five bogeys.
Senior So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep Academy) rounded out the Irish score at 82 (+10). The senior played 12 of the holes at par, but with double bogeys on three holes and one-over par on three other holes the senior sits in 118th place after 36 holes.
Freshman Kristina Nhim (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) completed the first half of the day with a nine-over par 45, but improved on the final nine holes as she carded a four-over par 40. Nhim placed a birdie on the board during the sixth hole for the second consecutive day of the tournament.
The Irish begin the third round of competition Friday as Park tees off of the first hole at 8:00 a.m. The Irish are paired up with UC Davis and South Carolina for the day.
Top-10 Team Leaderboard
1. UCLA (289-295-584/+8)
2. Purdue (292-295-587/+11)
3. LSU (292-296-588/+12)
4. Texas A&M (295-294-589/+13)
T5. Vanderbilt (297-294-591/+15)
T5. Virginia (291-300-591/+15)
7. Florida (294-298-592/+16)
T8. California (306-292-598/+22)
T8. Tennessee (299-299-598/+22)
T8. North Carolina (305-293-598/+22)
Irish Leaderboard
T49. Becca Huffer (80-71-151/+7)
T70. Katie Conway (75-78-153/+9)
T91. Nicole Zhang (77-79-156/+12)
T109. Kristina Nhim (76-85-161/+17)
T118. So-Hyun Park (81-82-163/+19)
–ND–