In their opening match of the year, the Irish broke a school record in their 3rd place finish in the Minnesota Invitational at the Prestwick Golf Club, finishing with a 854 (-10) over 54 holes. Notre Dame head coach Susan Holt was thrilled with her team’s performance.
“[I'm] very pleased with the top-three finish this past weekend,” Holt said. “We set a new scoring record for a 54-hole tournament finishing at 10 under. Whenever you set new records, it is a good day.”
The Irish opened the first two rounds of the tournament decently, recording a two-round total of 573, which tied them for seventh place with Wisconsin, at the conclusion of the first day. The Irish finished the tournament with an even stronger third round total of 281 (-7) to finish the tournament with a total of 854, four strokes better than the previous record set by the team in 2008 at the Heather Farr Memorial.
Holt said the key to Notre Dame’s success was the team’s ability to make adjustments as play went on.
“The first day we left a lot of birdie putts short. The greens were slower than what we are used to playing, and the second day we made some adjustments and more putts fell,” she said. “They knew how much better they could have played on day one, and were determined to get it done the final day.”
Top finishers for the Irish included the junior trio of Emma Albrecht, Isabella DiLisio and Maddie Rose Hamilton. Albrecht tied for seventh place overall after finishing with a three round score of 68-72-70, 210 overall. DiLisio tied for 10th overall, shooting 69-75-67 for a total score of 211. Hamilton had a three-round total of 218, scoring 75-72-71 to finished tied for 31st overall.
Although the Irish are off to a great start after this past weekend, Holt still stressed that consistency is the goal for Notre Dame as the team looks to make performances like these the norm.
“This is a very talented team but they still have to show up and be ready to compete,” Holt said. “There is a lot of parity in our sport right now. There are so many good teams across the country. We have to be ready to play every time we tee it up and find a way to post solid scores. The consistency has to be there for us to be in contention, especially with the challenging schedule we are playing this year.”
Coach Holt hopes that her team continues the positive momentum throughout the season, starting SepT. 23 when they compete in the Schooner Fall Classic in Norman, Oklahoma.
“Heading into the Oklahoma tournament, we just need to continue to stay focused in practice and keep working hard,” Holt said. “The course is one we have played a few times and really enjoy. We have played well there in the past. The greens will be faster, so that will be more of what we are used to. Our confidence is high right now, so we just need to feed off of it and keep the low scores coming.”
