Oct. 12, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The No. 20 Notre Dame women’s golf team heads to Norman, Okla., to play in the 34th annual Susie Maxwell Berning Classic (SMBC) hosted by the University of Oklahoma. The three-day event will run Monday-Wednesday, Oct. 15-17.
The Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club will serve as the host venue. The par-72 course measures 6,327 yards.
“This is a great field for us, I think we will see some great results” says head coach Susan Holt. ” Kelli (Oride) has been playing well. She has been one of our most consistent players this year. Lindsey (Weaver) and Talia (Campbell) have been performing as well and I’m not surprised by that. Both are great players and represented a top recruiting class for a reason. They are hard workers and will keep building throughout the season. It will be great to have Ashley (Armstrong) back this week as she makes a great addition to our lineup.”
TEE TIMES: Monday’s starting tee times have yet to be announced. Check Golfstat.com for updated daily tee times.
FORMAT: Teams will be follow a stroke play format. Eighteen holes will be played each day. Five players will represent each team. The lowest score from each team after each round will be dropped.
WEATHER: The forecast is calling for sunny skies throughout the tournament. Monday will see a high of 78 degrees and a low of 55 degrees with winds at seven miles per hour out of the southwest.
TOURNAMENT UPDATES: Keep up to date with live scoring by visiting Golfstat.com. Compete round-by-round results and recaps will be posted each day at UND.com
JIMMY AUSTIN OU GOLF CLUB: The club is named after the late oil and gas drilling contractor Jimmie Austin, honoring his lead gift for course renovation in 1996. The course was designed by Perry Maxwell and first opened for play in 1951.
It currently has a USGA rating of 76.2, which is 5.5 percent higher than the average for public golf courses and carries a 132 slope rating.
The club has played host to the NCAA Regional tournaments (1997), Big 12 Women’s Championship (1998, 2010) and the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship (2010). The course is scheduled to host the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship (2013) and the NCAA Regional championship (2012-men, 2013-women).
“This is a challenging golf course that rivals the courses we have already seen this season,” says Holt. “The is the type of course that will demand quality shots and challenges the most elite golfers. Historically, with our program, the tougher the course the better we seem to finish; it should be a great experience for our team.”
SUSIE MAXWELL BERNING CLASSIC: The tournament honors professional golfer Susie Maxwell who won three consecutive Oklahoma City Women’s Amateur Championships from 1959-1961. Maxwell additionally won 11 events in the LPGA from 1965-1976 and stands as a three-time U.S. Open champion.
The Irish will make their first appearance at the classic since being added to the Sooner’s schedule in 1976.
Since 1998 the Sooners have won their home event on seven occasions. Oklahoma won the SMBC last year by a mere stroke over Texas Tech (879-878). The Sooner’s outshot the Red Raiders 300-297 in the final team round.
Junior Anne Tanguay from Oklahoma, won the individual portion of the tournament firing a six-under par 210.
THE FIELD: Coastal Carolina, Denver, Kansas, Kansas State, Kennesaw State, Kent State, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico, No. 20 Notre Dame, Ohio State, No. 18 Oklahoma, Redlands Community College, Southern Methodist University, University of South Florida, TCU, Texas State University, Texas Tech, Tulsa
SCOUTING REPORT: Notre Dame already has seen Ohio State, TCU, Texas State, Texas Tech in tournament action and finished ahead of them in the final standings this season. The Irish have advanced passed Kent State on two occasions already this fall.
Texas Tech’s Kimberly Kaufman is the top-ranked player in the field as she is tied for 14th in the national rankings list with a 72 stroke average.
Coastal Carolina, which have finished fifth in both of its fall tournaments, is led by Brittany Henderson, who stands 27th in the national rankings
Oklahoma currently sits in the best situation on the national rankings board housing two top-50 golfers with juniors Emily Collins (tied for 27th) and AC Tanguay (tied for 39th).
Ohio State will be led by senior Rachel Rohanna (tied for 56th) and Tulsa will make its presence known with senior Shu-Yin Liu (tied for 71st).
Kennesaw State’s Atlantic Sun Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week (Sept. 19) Kawe Preamchuen (tied for 81st) will round out the top competitors.
NATIONAL PRESENCE: The Irish enter Monday’s contest ranked No. 20 in this week’s Golfstat rankings. They will have a prime opportunity to advance in next week’s poll as they chase No. 18 Oklahoma.
Freshman Lindsey Weaver (Scottsdale, Ariz.) is in a six-way tie for 27th place, which includes Sooner’s Junior Emily Collins. Freshman Talia Campbell(Dallas, Texas) cracks the top-100 golfers in the country sitting in a five-way tie for 95th place. Preamchun (T81) from Kennesaw State University will be on Campbell’s radar.
LAST TIME OUT: The Irish competed at the Windy City Collegiate Championship at the Glen View Golf Club in Golf, Ill. (Oct. 1-2). Notre Dame finished seventh out of 15 teams. Weaver lead the Irish firing a one-under par 215 to finish tied for second.
Campbell finished tied for 10th firing a three-over par 219. Campbell amazingly made two eagles, with one coming off a 505- yard par five hole.
Sophomore Kelli Oride(Lihue, Hawaii) placed in a three-way tie for 23rd place with an eight-over par 224. Oride led the field with 43 pars throughout the event.
Junior Kristina Nhim(Cypress, Calif.) finished tied for 64th place and fired a nine-over par 235.
WATCH ALERT: Notre Dame will see it’s first BIG EAST foe this season with USF. The Bulls finished 8th and 11th in their past two tournaments.
South Florida edged out Notre Dame last year at the 2012 BIG EAST Championship as the Bulls beat the Irish by a single stroke for the conference title. Ashley Armstrongshot the best final round at the championship and defeated Louisville freshman Emily Hass on the third playoff hole to claim the individual title.
NEXT STOP: Following the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic, the Irish will close out its fall season in Wilmington, N.C. at the Landfall Tradition taking place at The Country Club of Landfall, Oct. 26-28.
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