After looking to improve an 11th-place finish at the LSU Tiger Classic, Notre Dame posted a fifth place finish at the Bryan National Collegiate in Greensboro, North Carolina this weekend, despite poor weather conditions throughout the tournament.
With its sixth top-five finish this season, Notre Dame finished at 45-over-par 909, edging out ACC foes North Carolina State and Miami and rival Michigan. No. 20 Virginia won the tournament with South Carolina, No. 21 Florida State and Wake Forest taking spots two through four. Irish head coach Susan Holt said she was especially pleased by the team’s performance against in-conference opponents.
“Of course South Carolina is going to have a home-course advantage,” Holt said. “Florida State [and] Virginia beat us, but we’ve beaten all of them at different points this season. I was just proud of [my team] for hanging in there.”
The wind and weather conditions in Greensboro turned out to be the most difficult hurdle for the Irish, as gusts of up to 35 mph caused serious interference with play. No player broke 70 on the par-72 course all weekend and Holt said playing against the elements is the hardest variable to control.
“The conditions were tough to prepare for,” Holt said. “It was really challenging, and we certainly would have liked to have scored better. At the end of the day, they got through it and I’m pleased overall with the finish. Golf is a mental game as much as it is a physical game, and with the conditions, it was pretty tough to stay positive and keep yourself going. At the end of the day, it ended up pretty good.”
Senior captain Talia Campbell posted her best score of the year with a tie for eighth-place at eight-over-par 224. It was her 20th career team-leading finish, the second player in program history to hit that mark. Holt commended the senior for her play this weekend.
“Talia had a really solid turnaround,” Holt said. “With what the conditions were, for her to be as consistent as she was, that was a very good showing for her. But really, all the girls had contributions to the weekend. We had some really good crucial rounds. It was a team effort, and that’s a good thing. We’ve never relied on the same group of individuals every day — it’s always just all of them pitching in.”
Freshman Maddie Rose Hamilton tied for 26th place at 12-over-par 228, and fellow freshman Isabella DiLisio tied for 34th place at 14-over-par 230. Junior Jordan Ferreira and freshman Emma Albrecht were part of a three-way tie for 42nd place at 16-over-par 232. Holt said she was pleased with the final rankings, but said believes there is room for improvement.
“We’ve always got things to work on,” Holt said. “This weekend, putting was difficult, in part because of the wind. The balls were moving — kind of wiggling — on the green as we were trying to hit them there. Even short gains could have been better. Those were things we could have done better, but they had challenging conditions to deal with. We’ll get back in town and work on those things as we prep for ACCs around the corner.
“Everybody is ready to play [at the ACC championships] and looking forward to the challenge. The ACC women’s golf conference is super competitive and we stand pretty well in those rankings. Every time is just an opportunity to compete and get more experience. It’s going to be an interesting championship this year to see who comes out on top, because there are a lot of good teams.”
The Irish will return to Greensboro for the ACC championships on April 15 - 17.
