Coming off a second-place finish at the Susan Maxwell Berning Classic, the No. 19 Irish conclude their fall season at The Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C., against a field stacked with ranked opponents.
"We had our best finish of the fall at [the Susan Maxwell Berning Classic]," Irish coach Susan Holt said. "We had input from everybody, shooting some good scores and our confidence is high. We are ready for [The Landfall Tradition]."
There are six teams ranked ahead of Notre Dame, who will compete this weekend at The Landfall Tradition - No. 4 Arizona, No. 8 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina State, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 14 Purdue and No. 17 Oklahoma State. Right on the heels of Notre Dame is No. 20 Northwestern and No. 24 Texas Tech.
"This will be our hardest competition yet," Holt said. "This tournament gives us the opportunity to improve our rankings and pick up some quality head-to-head wins. We will finish off our fall season strong."
Freshman Lindsey Weaver finished tied for second at the Susan Maxwell Berning Classic with a five-under 67 and is currently the No. 4 ranked player in the country. She has a tournament average of 70.13.
"Lindsey is the best recruit that has ever come into our program as a freshman," Holt said. "She has a great tournament record. She has done a good job adjusting from high school to college play. To come in as a freshman and perform the way she has, she is capable of having a great collegiate career."
The unique Nicklaus Golf Course where the tournament will be played is spread over three nine-hole courses. It is familiar to many of the competitors, Holt said.
"It's a great golf course, very challenging" Holt said. "We are going to have to hit some quality shots, especially off the tee, in order for us to compete here. Our game is set up well for this course. We hit it well and we hit it long. We should be able to get the ball in the hole sooner and put up some good scores."
After a grueling fall season in preparation for the spring season, Notre Dame's lineup is prepared for the loaded field, Holt said. All five of the Irish have shot at least one round under par this season.
"I think we have all done pretty well in the fall," Holt said. "We have had a challenging fall and have navigated through it extremely well, even when we had to play with four players at Northwestern when [sophomore] Ashley [Armstrong] was hurt.
"It took a lot of depth to do that. We are holding our own. We are on the right track to position ourselves in a great spot for the spring season."
The Irish compete in Wilmington, N. C., starting today, to close out their fall season in preparation for their spring campaign.
Contact Isaac Lorton at ilorton@nd.edu
