Oct. 13, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – The Notre Dame women’s golf team, coming off a 13th-place finish at the Shootout at the Legends last week, returns to action on Oct. 14-15 at the Marilyn Smith Sunflower Invitational in Wichita, Kan. The 54-hole tournament will be played at the par 72, 5,953-yard Willowbend Golf Club with 36 holes scheduled for Monday and the final 18 on Tuesday.
The Teams: The 17-team field includes: Arkansas-Little Rock, Creighton, Illinois State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Northeastern State, Northern Iowa, North Texas, Notre Dame, Oral Roberts, Southern Methodist, Southwest Missouri State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Texas-El Paso, University of Missouri-Kansas City and Wichita State.
Dates and Times: Monday, October 14 play will consist of an 8:30 a.m. (CDT) shotgun start for round one. Round two will begin immediately following the first round with a shotgun start. Tuesday, October 15 will begin with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. (CDT).
Irish Lineup: Coach Debby King’s lineup will be made up by juniors Shannon Byrne (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Rebecca Rogers (Alpharetta, Ga.), sophomore Karen Lotta (Los Angeles, Calif.) and freshmen Sarah Bassett (Spokane, Wash.) and Katie Brophy (Fr., Spokane, Wash.).
Last Year At Marilyn Smith Sunflower Invitational: A year ago, the 17-team tournament battled the weather as two rounds were wiped out by rain. The Irish finished 9th in the tournament with a 325 total at the Alvamar Golf Club in Lawrence, Kan. Notre Dame was led by Byrne, who tied for 14th with a six-over par 78. Right behind her was Terri Taibl, who tied for 21st with a 79. Rogers tied graduated senior Kristin McMurtrie for 48th as they shot 84, while Lotta rounded out the Irish five with an 86.
Last Tournament: The Irish were 13th at the Shootout at the Legends in the 16-team field. Notre Dame fired rounds of 316, 309 and 318 for a 943 to finish 55 shots behind tournament-winner, Kent State. Rogers was the top finisher for the Irish as she tied for 42nd with a 234 (78-80-76). Brophy tied for 51st with a 236 (77-79-80). Lotta (237) tied for 55th, Taibl (242) tied for 69th, Lauren Gebauer (Fr., Columbus, Ohio) finished with a 244 (84-80-80) and Byrne closed out the Irish golfers with a 247 (86-79-82).
Irish Leaders: Gebauer and Bassett have Notre Dame’s top averages with a 79.33 average. Gebauer has played in each of the first three tournaments while Bassett has played in two. Lotta is third with a 79.55 average, with Brophy fourth at 79.89. Rogers owns an 80.22 mark and Byrne checks in with an 80.78 average going into this week’s action.
Tournament Results: Complete results will be available on the Notre Dame website at und.com. For more information on the Marilyn Smith Sunflower Invitational, contact Tim Connor at (574-631-7516) or via email at Connor.21@nd.edu.
Next For The Irish: Notre Dame’s women’s golf team will next be in action on Oct. 21-22 when they play host to 10 other teams at the adidas Fall Invitational at the Dye Course at the PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla.