Feb. 26, 2003
Notre Dame, Ind. – While there may still be snow on the ground in South Bend, Ind., the Notre Dame women’s golf team will travel to Pinehurst, N.C., from Feb. 28-March 2, to open the spring portion of the schedule. The Irish will join 21 other schools at the Edwin Watts/Carolinas Collegiate Classic for the three-day 54-hole tournament that will be played on the par 72, 5,898-yard Pinehurst #8 course.
The Teams: The 22-team tournament field includes: Alabama-Birmingham, Appalachian State, Augusta State, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, College of Charleston, East Carolina, Elon, Georgia State, Iowa, Jacksonville State, Kansas, Maryland, Memphis, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington, Notre Dame, Penn State, Radford, William & Mary, Winthrop and Wofford.
Dates and Times: The Edwin Watts/Carolinas Collegiate Classic is a three-day, 18-holes per day tournament. The tournament gets underway at 8:00 a.m. on Fri., Feb. 28 with the second round on Sat., March 1 and the final round set for Sun., March 2. Play will begin at 8:00 a.m. all three days.
Irish Lineup: The Irish have not been on the golf course since last November and look forward to getting back in action for the spring. “I think we are going into this tournament with the right attitude,” says head coach Debby King. “We might be at an advantage since we might be a little more hungrier to play. We are keeping our same goals as a team – to shoot 312 or better and to continue to improve our ranking into the 70s. This will also be the first time we’ve played three rounds of 18 instead of 36 holes and then 18. We are looking forward to that.” King will take her top six golfers from the fall to Pinehurst. The group includes: Sarah Bassett (Fr., Spokane, Wash.), Katie Brophy (Fr., Spokane, Wash.), Lauren Gebauer (Fr., Columbus, Ohio), Karen Lotta (So., Los Angeles, Calif.), Shannon Byrne (Jr., Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Rebecca Rogers (Jr., Alpharetta, Ga.).
Last Tournament: The Irish last played at the Pine Needles Invitational at Southern Pines in early November. They finished seventh in the 11-team tournament with a 54-hole total of 941 (315-303-323). Sarah Bassett was the team’s top finisher as she tied for 13th in the 62-player field with a 231 (79-75-77). Katie Brophy also finished in the top-20 with a tie for 16th as she fired a 233 (78-73-82).
Irish Leaders: Three freshmen lead the Irish after the fall schedule. Sarah Bassett is the team leader with a 77.86 average in 15 rounds of play. She is followed by Katie Brophy (78.89 in 18 rounds) and Lauren Gebauer (79.25 in 12 rounds of play). Karen Lotta ranks fourth on the team with an 80.20 mark in 15 rounds while Shannon Byrne (80.33) and Rebecca Rogers (80.72) have career-best averages after 18 rounds in the fall.
Tournament Results: Results will be available on the Notre Dame website at und.com after 11:00 p.m. on each day of tournament play.
Next For The Irish: Notre Dame’s women’s golf team returns to action on March 10-11 when they travel to Orlando, Fla. to play in the Peggy Kirk Bell Invitational at the Tuscaville Country Club.