After the seven-month regular season, the postseason has arrived for Notre Dame golf. Both the Irish men’s and women’s teams will end this week at the ACC Championship in North Carolina. The men will compete at Charlotte Country Club, while the women will play at Porters Neck Country Club.
Head coach John Handrigan’s Notre Dame men’s team finished its regular season with wins at the Folds of Honor Collegiate in September and the Johnnie-O at Sea Island last month. The most recent victory served as one of four consecutive top-three finishes that closed out the squad’s season. Last time out, the Irish claimed second place during the first weekend of April at the Hoosier Collegiate.
Last season, the Irish men tied for ninth at the ACC Championship. Georgia Tech finished as the champion, claiming its third team title in the last five seasons. Entering this weekend’s festivities, the ACC has North Carolina (No. 2), Florida State (No. 6), Virginia (No. 15), Georgia Tech (No. 16) and Duke (No. 25) inside the Bushnell/Golfweek Division I Coaches Poll. The poll awarded Notre Dame four votes this past week.
Charlotte Country Club, the site for the men’s ACC Championship is situated just four miles east of downtown Charlotte in North Carolina. Recognized as a top-20 private club in the United State, the 114-year-old course received the Best Remodel of the Year award from “GolfDigest” in 2009. It has hosted four USGA championships, most recently housing the 2018 USGA U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship in 2018.
A par-71 course, Charlotte Country Club features three par-three holes, 13 par fours and two par fives. Water stemming from Briar Creek comes into play on eight different holes, particularly those near the middle of an 18-hole round. The club’s three toughest tests all fall between the seventh and 10th holes, with water challenging the approach shot on two of them.
According to placement, the women’s team enters the postseason fresh off its best outing of the season. Notre Dame took second place at The Bruzzy during the final weekend of March, going top-five in a second consecutive event. Overall, the Irish compiled four top-five finishes this season under head Coach Caroline Powers Ellis.
The Irish women also finished in a tie for ninth at last year’s ACC Championship. Clemson took the team title after Duke, Virginia or Wake Forest had claimed each of the previous eight championships. Entering this weekend, the ACC has Wake Forest (No. 4), Duke (No. 6), Florida State (No. 19), Clemson (No. 21) and Virginia (No. 23) ranked in the Division I Mizuno WGCA Coaches Poll.
The women’s ACC Championship will take place 212 miles away from Charlotte at Porters Neck Country Club in Wilmington, North Carolina. Unlike the compact Charlotte Country Club, Porters Neck winds through a gated neighborhood community. The par-72 courses sits just off the Intracoastal Waterway, offering water hazards down the lengths of holes 13 and 14.
The women’s championship begins Thursday and runs through Sunday, while the men’s championship tees off Friday before wrapping up Monday.
