Yes, now it is time for something completely different after this blog has been on hiatus for far too long. The topic though isn’t completely as random as you might initially think. Back in my manager days at Notre Dame, I was assigned Men’s and Women’s Golf for my senior year sport. I still keep track of both teams and am still rather fortunate to have a good relationship with the current coaches and golfers on the women’s side of the camp. So I figure I should brag on them a little bit here.
Last week the Lady Irish golfers set out to defend their Big East title in Dade City, FL. The Lady Irish went sub-300 combined in all three rounds shooting 295-298-294. The final two rounds were the tournament low for their respective days; however, it was not enough to catch up from Louisville’s initial 279 round in the first, causing the Lady Irish to fall 11 strokes short of a back-to-back team title.
However, the Irish were not to leave the tournament empty handed. Senior Lisa Maunu, on her birthday no less, finished her final Big East tourney with a bang, winning the tournament outright as an individual. The Canadian lefty shot 74-71-70 to finish -1 for the tournament, besting Sara-Maude Juneau of Louisville by 3 strokes. Maunu’s 71 and 70 final two rounds were daily tournament lows, with her final round including an amazing charge on the back nine with included five birdies to seal her victory. Maunu’s victory gave the Irish back-to-back individual Big East titles (current Junior, Annie Brophy, won last year’s individual title).
Maunu chips from a bunker in the 2007 Big East Tournament
The Irish individual honors did not stop with Maunu. Sophomore So-Hyun Park and Junior Annie Brophy both finished the tournament +8 and tied for ninth place overall in the tournament and gave both girls All-Big East honors. For Park, this is her second consecutive All-Big East award and for Brophy, it is her third straight. Yes, you read that right, both girls have received All-Big East honors every year they have been at Notre Dame.
Freshman Becca Huffer finished the tournament 11th with a +9 showing and Junior Kristen Wetzel rounded out the Irish effort with a +19, earning her 23rd place. With these final showings, the Irish were able to place all of their golfers in the top-25 individually. This was most definitely an unbelievable effort on the part of the whole team.
Kristen Wetzel lines up a putt in the 2007 Big East Tournament
The Lady Irish season, however, does not stop at the Big East tournament. The Lady Irish will head to “the” Ohio State for the NCAA Central Regional May 7-9. The Irish will once again have another shot at Louisville along with the following teams: UCLA, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Wake Forest, Kent State, Michigan State, Ohio State, Stanford, New Mexico, Georgia State, North Carolina State, Washington, Kentucky, Chattanooga, Michigan, Murray State, Illinois State, Harvard, and Fairleigh Dickerson.
The top five finishers in this field will advance to the NCAA Finals. Notre Dame is still looking for its first ever trip to the final tournament.
The Lady Irish will be lead by current Big East Champ and Senior Captain Lisa Maunu, along with last year’s Big East Champ, Junior Annie Brophy, Junior Julie Kim, Sophomore So-Hyun Park and Freshman Becca Huffer.
If you wish to track this event, www.golfstat.com will have live scoring of this and all NCAA Regional Tournaments.
Best of luck to you girls! GO IRISH!