Sept. 24, 2010
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The University of Notre Dame women’s golf team opens the 2010-11 season at the 27th annual Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Mich. on Sat., Sept. 25. The two-day event, which features two rounds of play on Saturday and the closing 18 holes on Sunday, will be hosted by Michigan State University at the Forest Akers West Golf Club, a par-72 course that stands at 6,236 yards in length.
“We are certainly ready and excited to begin our season,” says head coach Susan Holt, who is entering her fifth season at the helm of the program. “This year being the latest we have begun a campaign in the five years I have been at Notre Dame. I believe the Mary Fossum will challenge us and we are ready to compete well.”
Traveling to East Lansing, Mich. this weekend on the five-team roster will be seniors So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep) and Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) as well as junior Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton) Making their collegiate debut this weekend are Kristina Nhim (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) and number eight ranked freshman in the nation (according to the GolfWeek 9.9.10 rankings), Nicole Zhang (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll). Competing individually for the Irish is junior Katie Allare (Phoenix, Ariz./Xavier Prep.).
Huffer led the Irish at the Mary Fossum in each of the past two seasons. In 2008, she concluded play with a 10th-place performance (224,+8) and the next year recorded a 14th-place finish (223, +7).
The Mary Fossum Invitational will showcase 11 teams, including 14th ranked Michigan State (according to the GolfWeek 9.20.10 rankings). The tournament begins with a shotgun start Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Live stats will be available at http://www.golfstatresults.com with a full recap posted on www.und.com.
THE COMPETITION: The 11 competing teams at the Mary Fossum Invitational are Eastern Michigan, Ferris State, Grand Valley State, Iowa State, James Madison, Kent State, Long Beach State, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Toledo.
HISTORY AT THE MARY FOSSUM INVITATIONAL: This will be Notre Dame’s third-consecutive season appearing in the Mary Fossum Invitational. At last year’s event, the Irish finished 10th out of 17 teams, carding a 926 (+62). Huffer was Notre Dame’s top finisher for the second straight season, turning in a 14th-place performance with a 223 (+7). Current team members, Conway shot a 243 (T-47th) and Park 247 (T-79th) in the two-day event.
The Mary Fossum Invitational has been played 27 times since the first edition (then called the Michigan State Invitational) was played in 1978. Notre Dame has participated a total of 16 times, posting a third-place showing in 2008, marking Notre Dame’s best finish at the event. In 2003, Noriko Nakazaki earned Notre Dame’s best individual finish when she fired a 225 to tie for third.
FORMAT: Each team’s lineup will be comprised of five golfers with the lowest four scores for each round counting towards the overall team score. The tournament consists of 54 holes, featuring 36 holes (rounds one and two) of play on Saturday before the final 18 holes tee off on Sunday. Both days of play feature 9:00 a.m. start times.
RESULTS: Live hole-by-hole scoring of the Mary Fossum Invitational will be available through Golfstat. To access the site go to http://www.golfstatresults.com, while daily recaps will be posted on und.com.
NEXT UP: The Irish will play host to the first-annual William K. Warren Irish Invitational on Saturday, October 2-3. The two-day tournament will be comprised of 13 teams, as well as 10 individuals.
–ND–