May 8, 2004
NORMAL, Ill. – The greatest season in the 16-year history of the Notre Dame women’s golf program came to end on Saturday afternoon as the 19th-seeded Irish concluded their first-ever NCAA appearance by finishing 17th at the 2004 NCAA Central Regionals. Notre Dame turned in a final-round 321 on day three to go with scores of 319 and 312 for a 54-hole total of 952. With the top eight teams and best two additional individuals from the regional advancing to the NCAA Championships (May 18-21), the Irish missed a berth in the national finals by 26 strokes; No. 11 Texas A&M finished eighth with a 74-over par 926 (305-317-304). Vanderbilt held true to its top-seed status by taking first at the Central Regional with a tournament mark of 893 (298-307-288), which was nine shots better than the 902 turned in by third-seeded Arizona (299-313-290). Illinois State hosted the 21-team Central Regional in Normal, Ill., at the par-71, 6,108-yard University Golf Course.
Freshman Noriko Nakazaki (Hanover Park, Ill./Hoffman Estates) led the Irish for a school-record eighth time this season. Nakazaki fired Notre Dame’s only sub-80 total in the final 18 holes, shooting a 79 after carding rounds of 80 and three-over par 74 in the first two rounds. The rookie’s 233 tournament score placed her in a tie for 36th, 21 strokes behind first-place Erica Blasberg of Arizona (68-73-71–212) and 11 shots shy of tying SMU’s Laura Cross (72-71-79–222) and Illinois State’s Samantha Richdale (74-75-73–222) for the two additional individual spots.
Nakazaki’s classmate Stacy Brown (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) was next for Notre Dame. Brown tied for 69th by shooting a 54-hole mark of 239 on rounds of 79, 76 and 84.
Following Brown was senior co-captain Shannon Byrne (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove), who ended her collegiate career in style by turning in the team’s low round in the final 18 holes. Byrne fired a spring-low 76 in her final round as a member of the Irish on Saturday, giving her a regional score of 240 (82-82-76).
Junior Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) and sophomore Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) rounded out the Notre Dame lineup at the Central Regionals. Lotta carded rounds of 81, 80 and 84 for a 54-hole total of 245 while Brophy ended her year with a 252 (79-90-82).
Although the 2003-04 season may be over, the results of the campaign will be remembered for years to come. Notre Dame won a program-record four tournaments in ’03-04, including its second straight BIG EAST title, on the strength of a regular-season average of 308.58 (309.31 overall), which was also a school record. In addition, the Irish completely overhauled both the all-time list of lowest team rounds and the all-time list of lowest 54-hole totals. Ten of the top 12 scores on the low-round list were turned in this year, including the top four spots, as well as the top five 54-hole marks in program history. Individually, the Irish turned in seven top-five and 16 top-10 performances in 2003-04.
– ND –
TEAM RESULTS (54-hole totals): 1. Vanderbilt 893 (298-307-288); 2. Arizona 902 (299-313-290); 3. Michigan St. 906 (302-303-301); 4. USC 910 (300-311-299); 5. Baylor 915 (312-297-306); 6. Purdue 917 (305-309-303); 7. New Mexico 918 (298-320-300); 8. Texas A&M 926 (305-317-304); 9.(tie) SMU 929 (316-302-311), Illinois St. 929 (313-308-308); 11. Northwestern 934 (313-305-316); 12. TCU 935 (308-319-308); 13. Missouri 936 (303-323-310); 14. Oklahoma 946 (311-321-314); 15. Kansas St. 949 (326-311-312); 16. Arkansas 950 (308-325-317); 17. Notre Dame 952 (319-312-321); 18. Indiana 955 (311-320-324); 19. Princeton 961 (320-317-324); 20. Kent St. 965 (325-319-321); 21. Tulsa 966 (319-321-326).
TOP NINE INDIVIDUALS (of 108): 1. Erica Blasberg (Arizona) 212 (68-73-71); 2. May Wood (Vanderbilt) 215 (73-72-70); 3. Josefin Svenningsson (Baylor) 218 (75-72-71); 4.(tie) Myrte Eikenaar (Purdue) 221 (73-73-75), Allison Fouch (Michigan St.) 221 (73-74-74), 6.(tie) Laura Cross (SMU) 222 (72-71-79), Samantha Richdale (Illinois St.) 222 (74-75-73); 8. Courtney Wood (Vanderbilt) 223 (76-72-75); 9. Kyla Neal (Texas A&M) 226 (68-79-79).
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 108): 36.(tie) Noriko Nakazaki 233 (80-74-79); 69.(tie) Stacy Brown 239 (79-76-84); 72.(tie) Shannon Byrne 240 (82-82-76); 90. Karen Lotta 245 (81-80-84); 100.(tie) Katie Brophy 251 (79-90-82).