Notre Dame finished 11th out of 15 teams at the LSU Tigers Golf Classic last weekend, with a final score of 919 (55 over par). Arkansas won the tournament with a score of 18 over par.
Though the team struggled, especially early on in the tournament, Irish coach Susan Holt said her team would learn from it and move forward.
“It certainly wasn’t the finish we were looking for,” Holt said. “We had an opportunity to pick up some quality wins and we weren’t able to do that. We got better every round and we had some good individual performances, but we’ll just continue to work and get better.”
Senior Kristina Nhim led the Irish for the second consecutive week with a score of eight over par, tying for 13th place individually. Last weekend, Nhim came in first at the Clover Cup in Arizona, where Notre Dame took second place as a team.
Due to weather concerns, the tournament in Baton Rouge, La., was condensed from three days into two, beginning Friday and ending Saturday afternoon.
Four out of the five Notre Dame golfers improved after the first round on Friday, scoring better in the back-to-back rounds Saturday. Nhim made the most significant improvement, progressing from an 81 Friday to scores of 74 and 69 in the next two rounds.
Freshman Jordan Ferreira had the second best score for the Irish at 11-over, putting her in a tie for 20th overall in the tournament. Sophomore Talia Campbell was next for Notre Dame with a score of 234 (18 over par), followed by juniors Ashley Armstrong (20-over) and Kelli Oride (27-over).
“Kristina’s bounce back was a highlight. She’s playing really well right now,” Holt said. “Jordan Ferreira after the first day played really well, too. After a long, taxing day, she really stepped up.”
With a two-week break before their next tournament, the Irish have time to work on their game. Holt said she is optimistic about the team’s ability to get better.
“We’ve got Ole Miss next, which will be another opportunity for us to get some good wins,” Holt said. “We’ve had the opportunities and now we need to make the most of them.”
Notre Dame will head to Oxford, Miss., on April 4 for the Rebel Intercollegiate tournament.
