LIHU‘E — Kelli Oride of Lihu‘e is one of four Notre Dame Women’s Golfers who have been named to the National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team at the Division I level. Oride is joined by Notre Dame seniors Katie
LIHU‘E — Kelli Oride of Lihu‘e is one of four Notre Dame Women’s Golfers who have been named to the National Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar Team at the Division I level.
Oride is joined by Notre Dame seniors Katie Allare of Phoenix, Ariz., and Becca Huffer of Denver, Colo., and freshman Ashley Armstrong of Flossmoor, Ill., the honor, states a Tuesday Notre Dame release.
The four golfers are the most ever selected in school history for one season. Previously, Notre Dame has had three student-athletes selected following six different seasons.
The foursome was among 602 women’s collegiate golfers from Divisions I, II and III recognized with this honor.
Criteria for selection to the NGCA All-American Scholar Team are some of the most stringent in all college athletics, the release states. A student must have a minimum GPA of 3.50 and student-athletes must have competed in at least 50 percent in Division I, or 66 percent in Divisions II or III, of the college or university’s regularly scheduled competitive rounds during the year.
Allare, graduating in May with a degree in political science, played in all 10 of the team’s tournaments while turning in an 81.14 average for the year, leading her team to a record-setting academic year for the program.
The Fighting Irish women’s golf program recorded the highest team GPA among all Notre Dame athletic teams. In the spring of 2011, the team had a 3.638 GPA and followed it in the fall with a 3.655 mark. They surpassed that with a 3.776 mark for the spring of 2012 with four members of the team being named to the Dean’s List.
Oride played in all 10 tournaments for Notre Dame this season and had a 78.66 scoring average with one Top 10 finish and a pair of Top 25 finishes on her resume.
She got her collegiate career off to a fast start by leading the team in the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Sept. 2011, finishing in a tie for 32nd with a 230 total, including a third-round 73.
The former Kaua‘i High School girls golf leader had her best finish of the season at the Hoosier Fall Invitational where she finished five strokes behind Huffer in a tie for fourth place with a nine-over par 225 to help Notre Dame to a second place finish.
As a freshman at Notre Dame, she was enrolled in the First Year of Studies program and plans to major in business.
Since the 1992-93 season, Notre Dame has had 36 women golfers named to the NGCA All-American Scholar Team.
