April 30, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame head coach Susan Holt has been named the 2008 BIG EAST Women’s Golf Coach of the Year. Holt has guided the Fighting Irish to a program-record five tournament victories this season, including last week’s BIG EAST title.
Holt, who is in her second season at Notre Dame, has the Fighting Irish ranked 25th nationally and on pace to shatter the program-record 305.46 season stroke average, which was established last year. The Irish currently have a 299.66 scoring average.
Notre Dame will carry that average into next week’s NCAA Central Regional in Austin, Texas. The Irish, who will be making their third NCAA appearance and first since 2005, garnered the No. 9 seed in the Regional, which will take place May 8-10 at the University of Texas Golf Club.
Along with winning five tournament titles, the Fighting Irish have notched four medalist finishes from three different golfers. In all, Notre Dame has finished in the top-five in nine of 10 tournaments this season and Irish golfers have finished in the top-five on 13 occasions.
A total of four Notre Dame golfers earned all-BIG EAST accolades this season, including sophomore Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) who copped medalist honors. Freshman So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep) was runner-up behind her teammate. Park is on pace to eclipse Noriko Nakazaki’s school-record 74.71 season scoring average. Park, the No. 14 golfer nationally according to Golfstat, has a current 73.28 mark during her rookie campaign.
“This is a great honor because it’s a result of the team’s performance,” says Holt. “I’m grateful because they are such a wonderful group and it’s a privilege to coach them. This team is special and to get this award for their hard work is an honor.”
Holt is no stranger to coach-of-the-year awards as she was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year on three occasions (1996, 1999, 2001) during her 13 seasons at the University of South Florida. In addition, she was named the Conference USA Coach of the Decade for the first 10 years of the league (1995-2005).
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