Notre Dame men's, women's squads win Big East

MEN'S TEAM

The University of Notre Dame men's golf team sealed the deal at the 2011 BIG EAST Championship at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club.

The Irish fired a final round 293 (+9) to finish at 24 over par on the tournament (876).  The Irish entered the day seven shots up on Louisville and by the time the 54th hole was played, the margin finished at six, as the Cardinals concluded at 882 (+30). Villanova finished in third with an 889 (+37), while Georgetown and South Florida tied for fourth at 895 (+43). 

The title for the Irish marks the seventh time in program history that they have won the BIG EAST Championship, and the first time since winning in 2005-06. It also marks the third title under the direction of head coach Jim Kubinski, who took over in the spring of '05, en route to winning the league crown that year. 

Individually, junior Max Scodro (Chicago, Ill.) also added his name to the Irish record book, becoming the first Irish medalist at the BIG EAST Tournament since Mark Baldwin did so in a rain-shortened tournament in '04-05 (only 18 holes were played, with Baldwin carding a 75). Scodro is the first Irish medalist ever to claim the title in the 54-hole format. Both Bill Moore and Todd Vernon earned medalist honors in '95-96 and '97-98, respectively, in a 36-hole format. 

Scodro's round got off to a torrid start, as he played the front nine bogey free with four birdies to finish with a front side 32 (-4). On the back nine, Scodro recorded five pars, three bogeys and a birdie on hole number 15 to finish his final day with a two under par, 69. For the tournament, Scodro finished at one under par (212) for a two shot victory over Louisville's Karsten Clements (214, +1). 

After getting off to a slow start in his final round that saw him four over par after eight holes, freshman Niall Platt (Santa Barbara, Calif.) played the final ten holes even par and notched his lone birdie of the day on the par-5, 14th hole. He concluded the day at four over par (75) and finished tied for sixth overall at 218 (+5). 

Sophomore Paul McNamara III (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.) continued to play a consistent brand of golf, recording 12 more pars to go along with two birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey on the 13th hole to finish his day three over par (74). He finished tied for 10th in the field with a three-day total of 222 (+9).  Junior Chris Walker (The Woodlands, Texas) rebounded nicely in his final round of play, despite posting an identical score on Monday of 75 (+4).

Walker enjoyed much steadier ball striking in his final round, finishing with 13 pars, one birdie, three bogeys and one double bogey on the final hole of the tournament. He finished in a tie for 27th place with a 54-hole score of 226 (+13).  Senior Connor Alan-Lee (Solana Beach, Calif.), in his second appearance at the BIG EAST Championship, rounded out the Irish team, finishing in a tie for 34th with a 229 (+16).

Alan-Lee struggled a bit in his final round, carding an 80 (+9). The senior finished the day with nine pars, six bogeys, two double bogeys and a birdie on the par-3 eighth hole. The tie for 34th marks his best BIG EAST finish, after tying for 48th at the '09 tournament. 

With the BIG EAST title in hand, the Irish earn an automatic bid into NCAA Tournament regional play. It will mark the first time since the '05-06 season that the Irish have reached the NCAA tournament.

WOMEN'S TEAM

The 25th-ranked University of Notre Dame women's golf team won its fourth BIG EAST Championship Tuesday at the Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla.

The team recorded a three-round score of 902 (295-297-310/+38) to win over the eight-team field. Kristina Nhim (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) stayed atop the Notre Dame finishers as the freshman completed the three-day tournament with a six-over par 222. 

"We came here to do what we wanted to do, which was win the championship," head coach Susan Holt said. "Our first two days were solid and clean and fortunately we built up a nice lead because we certainly needed it. We have a lot we need to work on between now and regionals to get us to our next goal, which is NCAA finals." 

Nhim entered the final hole of the tournament in a tie for first place, but dropped a stroke to fall into second place, while Louisville's Anna-Karin Ljungstrom and St. John's Harin Lee went into a four-hole playoff and Harin earned the individual top finish.  Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo./Littleton) trailed Nhim with a fourth-place finish. The junior bested her second round score by one stroke as she carded a 75 (+3) in the final day and compiled a 54-hole total of 223 (+7). 

Senior So-Hyun Park (Seoul, South Korea/Bradenton Prep Academy) placed seventh among the 40-player field and completed her final BIG EAST Championship with a 229 (+13). The senior capped her BIG EAST career off well as she bested her 2010 performance, a 25th place finish, by 17 strokes. 

Senior captain Katie Conway (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) completed the tournament with a 17-over par 233 and an 11th-place finish. Conway improved her 2010 BIG EAST Championship performance by 13 strokes as she recorded a 246 (+30) and a 25th-place finish.  Freshman Nicole Zhang (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll) rounded out the Irish lineup and tied for 12th place. She carded a 234 (+18) in the league tournament. 

The Irish completed the tournament in first place and were trailed by Louisville in second place with a 54-hole total of 915 (+51). South Florida moved from a fifth-place tie to third place to complete the contest. 

The Irish are now set for the NCAA Regional, to which Notre Dame will play host. Competing teams will compete for advancement to the national championship. There are three regional sites, in addition to Notre Dame: Stetson University and the Central Florida Sports Commission will represent the East and the University of Washington will serve as the host site to the West. 

The eight lowest scoring teams, as well as the two lowest scoring individuals that are not a member of the advancing team, from each of the three regional championships qualify for the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championship. The championship will be held May 18-21, at the Traditions Golf Club in Bryan-College Station, Texas.