The Irish travel south this weekend to Greensboro, North Carolina for the Bryan National Collegiate Tournament with a chip on their shoulder, after a 11th-place showing at the LSU Tiger Classic last week saw the team end its streak of 17 consecutive top-ten finishes.
At the Classic, Notre Dame finished with a total score of 70-over par 934 over three rounds. The team was led by senior captain Talia Campbell, who tied for 14th out of 96 competitors with a 12-over-par 228, giving the Dallas native her 19th career team-leading finish. With this finish, Campbell is now tied with former player Becca Huffer for second most team-leading finishes in team history. Junior Jordan Ferreira tied for 31st with a 16-over-par 232. Coincidentally, both players were the only two in the young Irish lineup who had played at the Tiger Classic before.
“LSU is a really tough golf course, and the conditions were very difficult,” Irish head coach Susan Holt said. “Across the board, scores were high and a lot of good teams played bad, and we just happened to be one of them. I think it exposed some of the weaknesses the girls have in their games, and this past week we’ve just been focusing on improving those areas.”
After a week and a half of preparation, Holt thinks the team has moved on and is ready for the opportunity in Greensboro.
“I think they’ve put it in their rear view mirror. It happens — I mean, all teams have an off-day or an off-tournament,” she said. “I haven’t read much into it, and based on how we played [Thursday] in the practice round, I think we’ve moved past it. We worked on what we needed to in order to make improvements, and I think they’re ready to rebound and have a good performance this weekend.”
The team heads into this weekend unranked and will match up against familiar ACC opponents No. 20 Virginia, No. 21 Florida State, North Carolina State and Wake Forest. Holt said the Irish are confident in their ability to perform well in the face of such familiar opposition.
“We’ve beaten a lot of these teams this year already, and I think this is a great opportunity for us at this point in time to have another look at those teams and see where we’re at nationally,” Holt said. “It will be a good measuring stick to see where we’re at.”
With ACC Championships around the corner, this is the perfect time for the Irish to get in last-minute preparation. The team lineup is headlined by Campbell, who currently has a career-low 73.09 stroke average for the year. Following her is Ferreira and rounding out the squad is the freshmen trio of Emma Albrecht, Maddie Rose Hamilton, and Isabella DiLisio. Holt said her team is confident going into the weekend's tournament.
“If we come out of it on the other side having played well, it can’t do anything but boost our confidence,” Holt said. “The reason why I come to this tournament every year now that we are in the ACC is because it is the same type of terrain and grass that we are going to see at the ACCs in two weeks, so I think it’ll be a great preparation for that.”
The tournament will take place this weekend from in Greensboro with the first round slated to begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
