The Irish entered the Briar's Creek Invitational in John's Island, S.C., as the highest ranked team in the field at No. 23 and the clear favorite.
Despite the pre-tournament accolades, the Irish ended the first day of the tournament Monday in a close-fought contest, tied for first place with Coastal Carolina and East Carolina at 33 over par. Rain and wind slowed the golfers until play was suspended due to darkness midway through the second round. The Irish will complete the second round today and play the final third round.
"[Monday] was a very long day," Irish coach Susan Holt said. "The wind was consistently around 30 miles per hour, and the course was flooded yesterday, so we were playing it and really just seeing it for the first time."
Sophomore Ashley Armstrong is in the midst of another strong performance, after winning the Insperity Lady Jaguar invitational last week. She is in third place individually after 12 holes in the second round. She currently leads all Irish golfers at three shots over par, just one shot behind the leaders.
Freshman Talia Campbell also played well, rebounding from a tough first round to score one under par through the first 11 holes of the second round, catapulting her into a tie for seventh place.
"Ashley played excellent in tough conditions and managed the course very well," Holt said. "We didn't play a practice round, so to be only three over par is just great."
However, the rest of the Irish struggled throughout the day. Freshman Lindsey Weaver is the highest ranked individual in the field at No. 8 but double-bogeyed three holes en route to a 12 over par day. The rest of the Irish all scored at least four shots over their season average.
"We just didn't play well as a team," Holt said. "There's no other way to say it. Every player had some problems. It was a little bit of everything overall."
After the first 18 holes, the Irish were tied for seventh place, behind Kansas and Costal Carolina, both of whom they beat earlier this season. However, they managed to rally in the second round and put themselves in contention for the win heading into the final day.
"The first round took [more than] six hours to finish," Holt said. "It was exhausting. We played a little better the second time through. We just need to rest and be ready for tomorrow."
The Irish finish play today at the Briar's Creek Invitational.
Contact Greg Hadley at ghadley@nd.edu
