For the past few years, Notre Dame has been ascending the ladder of the women's golf world, and this year the Irish continued their upward trend.
Notre Dame finished in eighth place at the NCAA regional held at Warren Golf Course across the street from campus last weekend, a mere six strokes shy of qualifying for the NCAA championships to be held in Florida later in May. Junior Talia Campbell and sophomore Jordan Ferreira led the Irish by tying for 19th place, both finishing at a five-over-par 221.
The Irish finished sixth in the ACC tournament on April 18. In that event, Campbell, who earned all-ACC honors, finished tied for 11th at one-under-par to lead the team. The Irish fought through rain and bad weather the entire weekend and finished only ten strokes behind third place. The championship marked a breakthrough for the squad, but the players had been showing flashes of potential all season long, Irish head coach Susan Holt said.
“We’re excited to be in the ACC,” Holt said. “It’s a great golf conference. There are six teams in the top 32. If you are winning ACC championships, you’re also competing for national championships.”
At their first tournament of the season featuring elite competition, the Schooner Fall Classic, the Irish struggled on day one, posting a 10-over-par score of 290. Holt said at the time the Irish were not satisfied with their performance, and they went on to shoot 277 and 279 over the next two days, respectively. Notre Dame finished tied for eighth, but was just four strokes removed from fourth place, and Campbell individually finished tied for 13th at one-under par.
The Irish were also strong from top to bottom this year. Senior captain Ashley Armstrong finished her career by leading the team with seven rounds under par on the season. And while she just missed out on receiving all-ACC honors, she did receive an ACC postgraduate scholarship for after she walks across the stage this weekend to receive her degree in mechanical engineering.
The Irish will certainly look to play against top competition in the future, as Holt said she is a big believer in its benefits.
“I think it’s great whenever you can put yourself against top-25 competition,” Holt said. “Because that’s who we want to be, and if we can put ourselves in those positions and be competitive as a team we’re going to be able to get there.”
