New coach Susan Holt will make her Notre Dame debut this weekend as the Irish try to defend their title in the seventh annual Notre Dame Invitational at the par-72 Warren Golf Course.
"This weekend I'm just looking for them to come out and play like they are capable of and the victory will take care of itself," Holt said in a statement released by the University. "I just want them to shoot rounds that are indicative of their talent."
Notre Dame has won the event four out of the past six years and will have to compete against 13 other teams to reclaim its title.
The Irish opened their season at the Cougar Classic in Charleston, S.C. last week, finishing 12th out of 19 teams. At that tournament, Holt was still coaching her former team, Southern Florida, but had the chance to see the Irish up close for the first time.
"I was able to see the team play last weekend because we were paired together, which was a good thing for me," she said. "I was able to get a head start by seeing the team play. I feel we played well, but I think we can also do better."
The Irish will again be without junior captain Alejandra Diaz-Calderon, who will miss her second straight tournament with an undetermined back injury.
"There aren't any problems with the disc, but they still do not know what is wrong," Diaz-Calderon said.
Leading the Irish will be senior Noriko Nakazaki, who tied for the individual title last year with a 7-over-par 223, and sophomore Lisa Maunu, who tied for 20th at the Cougar Classic and tied for eighth at last year's Invitational.
"We want to break 300 all three rounds. We feel confident knowing the course," Maunu said. "Playing on our own course definitely gives us an advantage of a couple of strokes. We already know what to hit off the tees. It is a big difference from other tournaments when you only play one practice round. We've played this course hundreds of times."
Also teeing off for the Irish this weekend will be senior Stacy Brown, who finished tied for 17th in last year's tournament, and freshmen Kristin Wetzel and Annie Brophy, who all contributed scoring rounds for the Irish last week.
The first two rounds of the tournament will take place on Saturday, with the final round on Sunday. The top four scores from each team for each round will count toward their overall score. Results will be posted on und.com after each day's play has concluded.