The Notre Dame women’s golf team goes into Sunday’s final round of the 2002 Notre Dame Invitational with a two-stroke lead over Northern Iowa University. The Irish with a 310-total in the second round, the best round of the tournament, finished the day with a 50-over par 626 after an opening round 316. Northern Iowa fired two rounds of 314 for a 628 on the par 72, 5,983-yard Warren Golf Course Saturday afternoon.
The Irish placed four golfers among the tournament’s top 20 golfers after 36 holes. Freshman Lauren Gebauer (Columbus, Ohio) led the way with an eight-over par total of 152 (75-77) to tie for second. That put her two strokes behind tournament leader Mikkell Korver of Northern Iowa who opened with a 77 before turning in a 73 for the best single round of the tournament.
In a tie for fifth is fellow freshman Sarah Bassett (Spokane, Wash.) who turned in back-to-back rounds of 78 for a 12-over par total of 156, six shots off the lead. Junior Shannon Byrne (Arlington Heights, Ill.) was in a tie for 10th with a 159 following rounds off 82 and 77. Sophomore Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, Calif.) rounded out the Irish contingent in the top 20 as she was tied for 17th with rounds of 81 and 79 for a 160, 10 strokes behind the leader.
Following Notre Dame and Northern Iowa for the team title is Western Michigan in third, 12 strokes behind the Irish, with a 640 (324-315). Wichita State is fourth with a 643 (316-327) and Bradley is fifth after rounds of 319-326 for a 36-hole mark of 645.
Gebauer, who was tied with Rutgers’ Jeannine Mondesando after the first round with a three-over par 75, is tied for second with Mondesando (75-77) and Cincinnati’s Allison Couch (77-75) with 152.
Rounding out the Notre Dame lineup on Saturday was freshman Katie Brophy (Spokane, Wash.) who was tied for 38th with a 165 (87-78). Freshman Lauren Barbir (Montgomery, Texas) followed with a 166 (81-85), good for a tie for 42nd, while Rebecca Rogers (Jr., Alpharetta, Ga.) was 51st with a 168 (83-85). Freshman Suzie Hayes (Dublin, Ireland) and senior Terri Taibl (Elm Grove, Wis.) joined Lotta playing as individual participants. Hayes was tied for 47th with a 167 (85-82) and Taibl was tied for 61st with a two-round total of 170 (84-86).
The final round of the Notre Dame Invitational will begin on Sunday, Sept. 29 with a shotgun start at 8:00 a.m. The tournament is open to the public and admission is free.
TEAM RESULTS (36-hole totals): 1. Notre Dame 316-31–626; 2. Northern Iowa 314-314-628; 3. Western Michigan 325-315-640; 4. Wichita State 316-327-643; 5. Bradley 319-326-645; 6. Ohio University 318-329-647; 7. Ball State 330-321-651; 8. Xavier 332-323-655; 9. Cincinnati 336-322-658; 10. Butler 333-327-660; 11. Rutgers 326-338-664; 12. Arkansas State 338-328-667; 13. Eastern Michigan 331-337-668; 14. Texas-Pan American 343-326-669; 15. Georgetown 339-342-681; 16. Boston College 345-344-689; 17. Evansville 355-340-695; 18. Cleveland State 364-359-723
TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS (of 109): 1. Mikkell Korver (No. Iowa) 77-73-150; t2. Lauren Gebauer (Notre Dame) 75-77-152; Allison Couch (Cincinnati) 77-75-152; Jeannine Mondesando (Rutgers) 75-77-152; t5. Sarah Bassett (Notre Dame) 78-78-156; Andrea Werner (Evansville) 79-77-156; Casey Williams (Wichita State) 78-78-156; t8. Jenny Heinz (No. Iowa) 79-79-158; Aimee Fronczak (Ohio University) 77-81-158; t10. Shannon Byrne (Notre Dame) 82-77-159 and six others.
NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUALS (of 109): t2. Lauren Gebauer 75-77-152; t5. Sarah Bassett 78-78-156; t10. Shannon Byrne 82-77-159; t17. Karen Lotta 81-79-160; t38. Katie Brophy 87-78-165; t42. Lauren Barbir 81-85-166; t47. Suzie Hayes 85-82-167; t51. Rebecca Rogers 83-85-168; t61. Terri Taibl 84-86-170.