Following recent successful invitational appearances, the Irish take to the course again at the Briar's Creek Invitational in John's Island, S.C., on March 25-26.
No. 23 Notre Dame enters the invitational as the highest ranked team in the field. The Irish are confident in their ability to win the tournament, Irish coach Susan Holt said.
"Based on the rankings, we are looking to win this entire thing," Holt said. "I like our chances. Our confidence is good. We have an opportunity to get a win, and it would be a good win to keep our confidence up heading into the Big East tournament."
The Irish will match up against Kansas and Wisconsin, among other schools. Notre Dame holds a 3-0 record against the Jayhawks this season and has defeated the Badgers two times already this year. Freshman Lindsay Weaver is currently ranked eighth nationally and will face fellow top-50 player, No. 45 Laura Wearn of Furman.
The Irish head into this tournament after a successful finish last week at the Insperity Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate in Augusta, Ga., at the Forest Hills Golf Club. The team finished third out of eighteen teams with a final team score of 24-over-par 888 and sophomore Ashley Armstrong finished as the medalist with a one-under-par score of 215 (76-69-70). Coming off last week's solid finish, the Irish feel confident about this invitational, Holt said.
"Our confidence is high right now," Holt said. "We've had great finishes recently."
With team confidence high, the only challenge facing the Irish in South Carolina is the inclement weather. Rain showers have limited the team's opportunities to practice and the team's chances to perform well, Holt said.
"We have been hoping to get a practice round in, but it has been pouring rain here," Holt said. "If it's the case that we cannot get a practice round in, then it will be much more challenging to finish at the top."
Despite the undesirable weather both in South Carolina and back in South Bend, Holt said the Irish have seen gains in their performance on the course.
"We have not been able to practice outside at home," Holt said. "We have been trying to do the best we can, and considering all these factors we have made improvements."
As the Irish enter this tournament, the team's focus is consistency, Holt said.
"Our top three players are playing well, so we want to get that rock consistency throughout our top five," Holt said. "We want to get our four and five spots to come through to help the other three out and get that balance."
The No. 23 Irish hit the links for the Briar's Creek Invitational at the Briar's Creek Club golf course in John's Island, S.C., on March 25-26.
Contact Kit Loughran at kloughr1@nd.edu
