At this weekend's 40th annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, hosted by the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., Notre Dame took tenth out of a field of eighteen, shooting an 892 as a team.
The Irish were led all three days by freshman Ashley Armstrong, who finished even-par, with an overall score of 216. Armstrong finished at even-par after the first round, earning her a tie for 16th. On Saturday, Armstrong ended her round with a second-straight day of par or better, shooting a two-under 70, moving herself up in a five-way tie for ninth. In her final round, she finished with a tie for13th place, shooting two-over, rounding off her final round with a 74.
Following Armstrong's performance was sophomore Kristina Nhim, who finished in a tie for 28th with a six-over par 222 for the tournament.
"Overall with the weekend, I think we performed well and it was a good showing," Irish coach Susan Holt said. "I'm definitely pleased with how we played."
After the first round, the Irish were in 12th place, finishing with a team score of 301. With a second-day score of 292, Notre Dame propelled themselves into ninth place. The Irish completed the tournament with a 299, falling one spot to 10th overall.
"It was a really good opportunity to go up against some top-ranked competition," Holt said. "We held our own and did pretty well. We beat five teams ranked ahead of us, which at this point of the year is a real positive."
As the season winds down, the Irish hope to take their performance and the momentum gained to the Big East tournament.
"We have conference [championships] coming up, then postseason play, and we are certainly hitting our stride and playing better as a team," Holt said. "This should give us a boost of confidence going into the Big East tournament."
Campbell said the team is looking to retain the Big East title, which the Irish won last year, and bring the trophy back to Notre Dame.
"We are excited about the tournament, especially going in there as returning champions," Holt said. "I think we are in a good state of mind right now, and we are just going to be working hard for the next few weeks preparing for the Big East."
The Irish will look to keep their Big East championship title starting April 22 at the Reunion Resort and Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.
Contact Isaac Lorton at
ilorton@nd.edu
