October 24, 1998
BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – Notre Dame sophomore Mary Klein (Kokomo, Ind.) used one of the best rounds of the 76-player tournament to finish tied for sixth with a 152 total, following the second and final round of action Saturday at the second annual Notre Dame Invitational, held at the par-72, 5,930-yard Bonita Springs Cypress Golf Course.
Notre Dame entered the day tied with Minnesota and Illinois State for sixth place in the 13-team field but dropped to an eighth-place finish, just one shot behind Michigan, two back of Kent and Iowa and five behind Northwestern. The Irish concluded their fall season by improving by four shots from the previous day (318-314).
Irish junior captain Andrea Klee-who led the squad in the first three fall tournaments-faltered with a second-round 82 to finish tied for 28th. Freshman Kristin McMurtrie posted her best round with Irish, carding a final-round 78 to finish tied for 20th at 158.
Klein’s final-round 74 is the best by an Irish women’s golfer this fall and tied with three other golfers in the tournament field for the third-best round of the Invitational, trailing only the first-round 71 by medalist Patty Frohna of Wisconsin (71-74) and the second-round 73 by runner-up Jena Harris of Cincinnati. Iowa’s M.C. Mullen and Michigan State’s Emily Bastel both shot second-round 74s en route to tying for third at 151.
Klein came up one shot shy of besting her career-high finish, as she tied for fifth last spring at the 83-player Indiana Invitational (71-80-79). Wisconsin (302-313) held on for the team title, edging Michigan State (307-312) by four shots. Minnesota (318-306) jumped from its share of sixth to a third-place finish, thanks to a strong final-round 306.
Notre Dame junior Beth Cooper (84-80) and Irish sophomore Becca Schloss (81-83), an individual entrant, each tied for 42nd while another Notre Dame sophomore individual entrant, sophomore Danielle Villarosa (81-85), tied for 48th. Sophomore Shane Smith (84-83) and junior Brigid Fisher (82-86) rounded out the Irish contingent.
Klee’s 160 lowered her team-best season stroke average to 80.50, followed by Klein (81.70), Cooper (84.29), McMurtrie (84.60), Smith (85.00), Fisher (85.30), Schloss (85.60) and Villarosa (85.60). Klee counted to the team score in all 10 fall rounds, followed by Klein (9), Fisher (7) and Smith (5). McMurtire has counted to the team score in five of her seven rounds as a member of the starting six while Cooper has counted in four of seven rounds as a starter.
Notre Dame concludes the fall with a 327.60 average for the count-four team score, nearly eight shots higher than the 1997-98 average of 319.88. The average score counted to the team total in the fall was 81.90.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS (36 holes): 1. Wisconsin 302-313/615; 2. Michigan State 307-312/619; 3. Minnesota 318-306/624; 4. Northwestern 315-313/627; 5. Kent 312-317/629; Iowa 323-306/629; 7. Michigan 315-316/631; 8. Notre Dame 318-314/632; 9. Illinois State 318-325/643; Cincinnati 328-315/643; 11. Xavier 325-337/662; 12. Illinois 350-331/681; 13. Boston College 369-359/728.
TOP PLAYERS (of 76): 1. Patty Fronha (WIS) 71-74/145; 2. Jena Harris (CIN) 76-73/149; 3. M.C. Mullen (IOWA) 77-74/151; Emily Bastel (MSU) 77-74/151; Emily Gilley (NW) 75-76/151; 6. Mary Klein (ND) 78-74/152; Misia Lemanski (MICH) 76-76/152; 8. Kasey Gant (MSU) 77-76/153; 9. Donna Boom (MINN) 79-76/154; 10. Melaine Loop (MINN) 80-75/155.
OTHER NOTRE DAME SCORES: 20. Kristin McMurtrie 80-78/158; 28. Andrea Klee 78-82/160; 42. Beth Cooper 84-80/164; 42. Becca Schloss (ind.) 81-83/164; 48. Danielle Villarosa (ind.) 81-85/166; 50. Shane Smith 84-83/167; 55. Brigid Fisher 82-86/168.||