Beginning this Thursday, the Irish will compete at the ACC championship at the Reserve Golf Club in Pawley’s Island, South Carolina.
The 54-hole tournament features a loaded field that boasts five top-25 teams and eight top-50 teams, including fourth-ranked Florida State and 10th-ranked Duke. For Notre Dame, who took home a 12th place finish at the Bryan National Collegiate Tournament in its last outing and returns four golfers from last year's lineup, the key is to make sure the team produces a consistent performance.
“We’ve had good play from everybody at times, we had even par or one-over-par rounds from everybody in our last tournament,” Irish head coach Susan Holt said.“We need to develop our consistency. If we can get that from everybody, every day, we can really compete.”
At the beginning of the season, the team largely set its goals around the ACC tournament. It’s a crucial event for the program every year, and one that will largely determine how the season as a whole is remembered.
“It's huge,” Holt said on the tournament.“The ACC is one of, if not the most, competitive conferences in the country. If you can be competitive in this conference you’re in going to be in a great position nationally for sure.”
Notre Dame will look to lean on its stars as it heads into ACC tournament play. Leading the lineup is Emma Albrecht, who picked up an 11th place finish at the Bryan National Collegiate, shooting an even-par 216 over the whole tournament. And while the sophomore will certainly be called upon to produce, for the Irish to be successful, the whole team needs to deliver, Holt said.
“Everybody needs to perform,” Holt said.“You can’t put it all on one or two people to carry the load. Emma’s had a great semester. She’s about nine-over-par for the whole semester, which is incredible. Her highest round has been 74. I’m happy for her, and this will be a great chance for her go head to head with some of the best players in the country.”
This is also the final tournament for senior Jordan Ferreira, a four-year contributor for the Irish and a critical part of the team’s makeup. Senior Janie Fineis is also playing in her final tournament, and she’ll look to put forward a few good rounds to have a positive impact.
“Jordan’s been in the lineup since her freshman year,” Holt said on Ferreira.“She’s had a really good, solid career for us. Anytime you play in every single tournament for four years, that means you’ve had a great career.”
It would be a success for the Irish to leapfrog any of the squads above them and put themselves in the top eight of the ACC, as Notre Dame has finished in the top six in two of the last three seasons at the ACC championships, but have struggled this year.
The Irish open the first round on Thursday at the Reserve Golf Club in Pawley’s Island, with the final round set for Saturday.
