The weekend was a bit of a disappointment for the Notre Dame women's golf team. The team traveled to Ann Arbor, Mich. to compete in the Lady Northern Invitational, where it placed eighth in a field of 15. The Irish logged a 57-over-par 921. Host Michigan won the event, shooting a combined 881 to hold off second-place Ohio State by four strokes. The Irish had trouble staying steady over the three-round event, sandwiching an impressive 298 team score between a mediocre 309 and 314."We struggled a lot with consistency," coach Debby King said.However, the weekend was not completely lost for the Irish. Juniors Katie Brophy and Lauren Gebauer each scored an 11-over-par 227 to finish in a five-way tie for 17th. In Saturday's second round, Brophy shot a 3-under 69, helping to bring about the team's impressive round that afternoon and giving herself the second best single round score of the tournament. Gebauer continued her strong play from a week ago and has begun the season as one of the Irish's strongest golfers."[Gebauer]'s really been on a roll right now," King said.Sophomore Noriko Nakazaki finished tied for 26th after she shot a 229, and joined Gebauer as the only golfers to shoot in the 70s for all three rounds. Karen Lotta, who set the Warren Golf Course single round record a week ago, struggled on her way to scoring a 241 for the Notre Dame team."This just goes to show you how it can be from one weekend to the next in golf," King said. "Last weekend she shot a 68 and this weekend she's struggling to break 80."Freshman Jane Lee and sophomore Stacy Brown rounded out the Notre Dame lineup in Ann Arbor. In her second tournament for the Irish, Lee shot a 244, and Brown finished with a 247 in her first appearance in the scoring lineup this season. After this weekend's performance, King sees some definite areas to focus on improving for upcoming events."We're going to start next practice with green reading and putting," she said. "I got the stat sheet back, and it seemed to be a common flaw this weekend."
