Notre Dame travels to Bryan, Texas this weekend to compete in Texas A&M's 13th Annual "Mo"-Morial Tournament at the Championship Tees Traditions Golf Club.
The 54-hole event is named after former A&M golfer Monica Welsh, who died in an automobile accident in the early 1990s. It will include a field of 18 teams from across the country, including No. 9 Arkansas and No. 23 Kent State.
The Irish are coming off of an 11th-place finish in the Central District Classic - their first tournament of this spring - and are hoping for a better finish this weekend.
"We didn't play as well as we expected that weekend," Irish coach Debby King said of the Feb. 19-20 tournament. "We're going up against the same class of teams in this field and we're hoping for a stronger finish."
Despite the disappointing finish in the team's first tournament, King is optimistic about this weekend because of the team's ability to practice during this week's mild weather.
"We got out [to the course] a couple times this week," she said. "So we're hoping we can continue to improve our level of play."
King said she hopes for a top-six finish in Bryan.
This competition is crucial for Notre Dame because it pits the team against several others from the NCAA central region - teams the Irish will face in the second round of postseason play. What's more, the par-72, 6,307-yard course is the same one that will play host to the NCAA Central Regional in May.
During the fall, the Irish had a team scoring average of 301.5 per round. King said that her players should be aiming for that figure throughout the tournament.
"I'd feel really good if we could stay at or under that mark for each round," she said.
After the "Mo"-Morial, Notre Dame will have only two more tournaments to prove itself before the Big East Championship in Dade City, Fla. April 23-25.
