This past weekend, the Irish competed in the ACC championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, in the quest for their first title since the team won their last Big East crown in 2013. Amongst a field of 12 that included 10 teams in the Golfstat top 50 and difficult conditions, the Irish stumbled to a 10th-place finish.
On Friday, with windy conditions, the team limped to one of their highest team scores of the season, shooting a 22-over-par 310, which put them at 10th right from the get-go. The Irish did improve as the tournament went on, as the Irish shot 11 strokes better to get to a 33-over-par 609 through Saturday before a final-round 295 to finish at 40-over. But this still wasn’t enough to overcome the initial hiccup, and the team ended up 10th out of 12 teams after the final round.
“The 10th place finish is obviously not something we’re happy with, but the ACC women’s golf conference is one of the most if not the most competitive in the country, just based on rankings and teams,” Irish head coach Susan Holt said. “You’ve gotta be prepared and be ready to show up all three days, and we didn’t do that. As a result, we got beat, and we got beat bad. I think the takeaway for us moving into the postseason, since the competition is gonna be even more competitive, is that we have to be ready and present all three days and ready to execute.”
The Irish were led by senior captain Talia Campbell, who finished in ninth overall with a 2-over-par 218. She also made program history, becoming the first Irish golfer to be the top team performer in four consecutive conference tournaments and the fifth to ever be in the top 15 for four straight conference tournaments.
“Talia played fantastic, and I’m really happy for her.” Holt said. “She’s had a very solid career for us, and for her to play the steady rounds that she did all three days at the championships was impressive and well deserved for her.
"She’s worked really, really hard on her game, this semester in particular, and she’s been rewarded for that. ... For her to be able to do what she’s done not only for four years but also this year. We’ve had some pretty brutal conditions, especially this spring, when the weather hasn’t been good on the road, and we’ve had wind, rain and cold, so its been really impressive to watch her level of consistency through all of that."
Following her was freshman Emma Albrecht, who tied for 17th with a 6-over 222. She improved her play each of the three days, carding a 75-74-73 in the tournament.
“She’s just progressed very nicely and steadily through the whole season,” Holt said. “She’s playing some of her best golf right now, which bodes well for moving into the postseason."
Albrecht’s fellow freshmen Isabella DiLisio and Maddie Rose Hamilton followed her, finishing in 44th and 52nd respectively, and the lineup was rounded out by junior Jordan Ferreira, who came in 56th.
The Irish will now head back to the drawing board with NCAA regionals on the horizon.
“Well, obviously our goal every year is to compete for national championships, so we are gonna do what we can to make it to the finals,” Holt said. “Our preparation will be based on individual needs. That’s the thing with our sport, everyone has different things that they need to work on, and with this past tournament, I think everybody has plenty that they need to work on. They know what those areas are, so we’ll just put our focus on those, and hopefully we’ll get some cooperation with the weather.”
The field for the four NCAA regionals will be released Monday at 6 p.m., and the regionals will take place May 5-7.
