The Irish ended their fall season on a high note, taking second-place overall at the Landfall Tradition last weekend after finishing just seventh at the Cardinal Cup earlier in the week.
Freshman Isabella DiLisio led Notre Dame through the Cardinal Cup and the first two days of the Landfall tourney, finishing her first fall season leading the Irish with three top-ten finishes in just four tournaments.
At the Cardinal Cup, the Irish had difficulty finding their stroke and ended the tournament seventh out of a 15-team field. The Irish posted their worst single-round score of the fall 2015 season with a 309 in the final round of the tournament. DiLisio led the Irish with a four-over-par 220, earning her sixth place, followed by freshman Emma Albrecht who also finished in the top 10 with a ninth-place five-over-par 221. Junior Jordan Ferreira finished 23rd overall after shooting a 10-over-par 226. Lack of experience playing the Louisville was one of the reasons DiLisio gave for the team’s weak performance at the Cardinal Cup.
“All of us had never played that golf course before because it’s a new tournament [for us],” DiLisio said. “Most of the other ones, at least some of the older girls, had played the course before, but this one was completely new for everyone.”
“It was one of those times where nothing seemed to go right, but it just gave us momentum to pick it up and play better at Landfall.”
The Irish had a couple of days to recuperate following the Cardinal Cup before traveling to Wilmington, North Carolina, to play the Landfall Tradition. Played at the Country Club of Landfall, the tournament featured the toughest field the Irish have faced in 2015, including 11 ranked teams, five of which are ranked in the top-20. The Irish carded a two-over par 866 for the tournament, earning second-place honors behind No. 2 Duke, who shot a blistering nine-under-par 855.
For much of the Landfall Tradition, all eyes were on DiLisio as she was on top of the 96-player field by four strokes going into the third round of the tournament. However, a stretch of five bogeys hurt her score significantly and she finished with a five-over-par 221.
“Since I’m a freshman and I was leading at that tournament after the first two rounds, there were definitely nerves heading into the last day, and it was kind of one of those days where just everything went wrong,” DiLisio said.
DiLisio’s struggles in the final round did not ultimately harm the team’s final score in a significant way thanks to the outstanding performance of the rest of her teammates. Freshman Emma Albrecht placed 19th overall after scoring a three-over-par 219, which included a four-under-par 68 in the final round. Also finishing with a three-over-par 219 and 19th-place honors was senior captain Talia Campbell.
“Our depth shows that we are able to compete with any of the teams ranked in the top 20,” DiLisio said. “It was a lot of fun to be at the top again.”
The Irish take a three-month hiatus from competition before returning in February to begin their spring season leading up to the ACC and NCAA Championships.
