O’Brien Golf Tournament Attracts Elite Teams

Saint Mary’s hosed the first O’Brien National Invitational at the Warren Golf Course at the University of Notre Dame in September. The two-round golf tournament was made possible by a generous donation from Tim, Diane, and Katie O’Brien ’08. It attracted some of the nation’s elite Division III golf programs to make it one of the most highly touted tournaments other than the Division III Championships.

The field of ten teams was made up of the top ten finishers from last spring’s NCAA Division III Championships. Perhaps one of the best known NCAA golf programs in the country, the 12-time defending NCAA Champion Methodist University (Fayetteville, NC) Monarchs helped headline the selected teams who competed last month.

While the Belles were the lowest seeded team in the field with a #13 ranking at the time, the team proved that they can and will contend to be one of the top teams in Division III this year. The team finished in third place ahead of seven higher-ranked schools.

The defending national champions from Methodist took the team title while Saint Mary’s own Martyna Mierzwa ’13 finished at the top of a highly talented field which included the two-time defending NCAA Division III individual champion.