In golf terms, No. 26 Notre Dame finished its season under par, as the Irish took home their fifth Big East championship in program history.
"We had a really solid season for the program as a whole," Irish coach Susan Holt said. "We had a really great team record, the lowest team score [in Big East tournament history] and going out of the Big East like we did was awesome."
The Irish posted solid finishes in their four-tournament fall season, as the team came in second at the Susan Maxwell Berning Classic in Norman, Okla., and third in the Mary Fossum Invitation in East Lansing, Mich.
Notre Dame struggled at the start of its spring season, concluding its first tournament - the Seminole Match-Up Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. - with a seventh place finish.
Notre Dame continued to improve its performance as the season progressed, finishing fifth and third respectively in its next two tournaments.
The team captured its first team title of the season at the Briar's Creek Invitational in John's Island, S.C. on March 26, and sophomore Ashley Armstrong finished as the tournament individual champion with a one-over-par score of 217 (74-71-72).
After an eighth place finish at the SMU Dallas Athletic Club Invitational in Dallas, the Irish then headed into the Big East championship.
The team posted a six-under-par score of 861 (294-285-282) in the 54-hole tournament, and freshmen Lindsey Weaver and Talia Campbell both shot six-under-par totals of 210 to share medalist honors.
"Winning the Big East tile was certainly a goal," Holt said. "It is a great accomplishment and solid success, and our program will definitely be able to make the transition to the ACC and be a competitor."
Weaver said she considers the Big East championship victory to be her team's greatest success of the season.
"Since we lost by one shot to [South Florida] last year, it was very important to redeem ourselves this year," Weaver said.
Following the championship, Weaver was named both Big East Player of the Year and Big East Freshman of the Year. Campbell and Armstrong were both named to the All-Big East team, while Holt was named Big East Coach of the Year for the third time in her career at Notre Dame.
The team earned the No. 9 seed in the NCAA East Regional at the Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala., where it shot a 908 (292-304-312) over 54 holes to finish tied for 15th out of 24 teams.
Contact Kit Loughran at kloughr1@nd.edu
