The Irish finished 17th out of 18 teams in the three-day Ruth's Chris Tarheel Invitational, held at the UNC Finley Course in Chapel Hill, N.C. with a team score of 902, 38 over par.
The three-day tournament, which featured 11 teams ranked in the top 25, left little opportunity for error. The Irish got off to a lackluster start on the weekend, scoring a 17-over 305 on Friday, which left them placed 18th out of the 18-team field.
"We really dug ourselves in a bit of a hole early, and had the opportunity both Saturday and Sunday to get ourselves out, but we were not able to capitalize," Irish coach Susan Holt said.
Leading the pack for Notre Dame was sophomore Talia Campbell, who shot a one-over 73, placing 22nd in the individual field of 96. Campbell would continue to climb the leaderboard throughout the weekend, shooting an even par 72 on Saturday and one-over 73 on Sunday. She ended the Invitational tied for 19th, finishing two-over par with a 218 for the weekend.
Junior Ashley Armstrong had a strong showing Saturday, tying Campbell for a team-best even-par 72, which left her tied for 32nd in the Invitational. Armstrong shot a five-over 77 to round out the weekend, dropping 15 spots and finishing tied for 47th with an eight-over 224. Freshman Jordan Ferreira moved nine spots up the leaderboard Sunday, finishing tied for 68th at 229 and 13-over par for the weekend. Senior Kristina Nhim and junior Kelli Oride rounded out the squad's finish, Nhim finished tied for 80th at 16-over-par, while Oride placed 89th at 20-over-par.
"Moving forward as a team we know we can play better," Holt said. "That comes from making putts for birdie down the stretch, and taking advantage when we are striking the ball well like the way we were this weekend."
Duke University set the pace for the weekend. The Blue Devils' captured the top spot after play Saturday and never looked back, finishing at seven-under-par team score of 857 for the weekend. Duke was the only team to finish below par. Vanderbilt placed second and Oklahoma finished third with scores of 868 and 871, respectively. Though the Irish finished 45 strokes behind the champion Blue Devils, Holt said her team remains undaunted as they move forward with the season.
"You don't know how good you are until you face the best," she said. "I know we can play better. That is the frustrating part, that we know that we did not play our best."
The Irish return to both the links and the state of North Carolina on Oct. 25, when they participate in the three-day Landfall Tradition tournament, held in Wilmington, N.C. The event will feature rematches with several teams from the Tarheel Invitational, including Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest.
Contact Henry Hilliard at rhilliar1@nd.edu
