April 29, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s golf head coach Susan Holt was named the BIG EAST Women’s Golf Coach of the Year, while senior So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep Academy), junior Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton) and freshmen Nicole Zhang (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) and Kristina Nhim have been named to the 2011 All-BIG EAST Women’s Golf Team, it was announced by the league office Friday afternoon.
Head coach Susan Holt led the team to their fourth BIG EAST Championship. During the regular season she assisted the squad to four first-place finishes and managed to finish in the top 10 in each tournament during the 2010-11 season with seven of those finishes being in the top five.
This marks Park’s third selection to the All-BIG EAST team, while Huffer earned the honor for the third consecutive time during her career. If Huffer wins the honor again next year she will join 2010 graduate Annie Brophy and 2007 graduate Noriko Nakazaki as being the only women’s golfers in program history to boast that honor.
Park concluded the BIG EAST Championship placing seventh among the 40-player field and completed her final BIG EAST Championship with a 229 (+13). She capped her BIG EAST career off well as she bested her 2010 performance, a 25th place finish, by 17 strokes. Overall this season, Park carries a 75.2 stroke average and has played in all 10 of the 2010-11 events.
Huffer is coming off of a fourth-place finish at the league contest, and the junior bested her second round score by one stroke as she carded a 75 (+3) in the final day and compiled a 54-hole total of 223 (+7). Huffer has logged six top-25 finishes and four top-10 finishes this season.
Zhang finished in a tie for 12th place at the BIG EAST Championship. The freshman has had a bountiful season as she carries the best stroke average on the team, 73.7 and has finished in the top 25 eight times. Additionally, grabbing a first-place finish with a three-round score of 207 (-9) at the Mary Fossum Invitational to begin her collegiate career.
Nhim was the top finisher for the Irish as the freshman entered the final hole of the tournament in a tie for first place, but dropped a stroke to fall into second place and recorded a 222 in three-day tournament. Nhim has competed in all 10 events this season and her best 54-hole total this season was at the Alamo Invitational when she notched a four-over par 220.
Park, Huffer, Zhang, Nhim and the Irish play host to the NCAA Central Regional May 5-7 at the Warren Golf Course in Notre Dame, Ind. A top-eight finish at the event would qualify the Irish for the NCAA Finals for the first time in program history.
2011 BIG EAST Women’s Golf Postseason Awards
2011 All-BIG EAST Women’s Golf Team
Bambee Dela Paz, Sr., Cincinnati
Nicole Zhang, Fr., Notre Dame
So-Hyun Park, Sr., Notre Dame
Becca Huffer, Jr., Notre Dame
Kristina Nhim, Fr., Notre Dame
Sara-Maude Juneau, Sr., Louisville
Laura Anderson, Sr., Louisville
Anna-Karin Ljungstrom, So., Louisville
Harin Lee, Fr., St. John’s
Shena Yang, So., USF
Player of the Year: Sara-Maude Juneau, Sr., Louisville
Freshman of the Year: Harin Lee, Fr., St. John’s
Coach of the Year: Susan Holt, Notre Dame
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