Notre Dame came away from the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational this past weekend with a win by a four-stroke margin over second-place finisher Wisconsin and an individual co-medalist in junior Emma Albrecht.
The event — which was shortened from three days to two due to inclement weather, with teams playing 36 holes on the second day of play — concluded with the Irish on top of the leaderboard, as they posted an overall score of 284-296-292 for a total of 872 (8-over par) for the weekend. It was a wire-to-wire win for Notre Dame, whose score broke the previous Invitational record. The win also broke a two-year winless drought for the Irish. Irish head coach Susan Holt said the win will give her team confidence and propel it further into the season.
“It’s hard to win golf tournaments. There are a lot of good teams across the country,” Holt said. “We have had good teams that never won an event all year. This is a great accomplishment and one that should continue to build the confidence of everyone. I think this was a really good test for this team. To lead the event from start to finish is impressive. The pressure was on them, since they were being pursued by the rest of the field. They handled it with a lot of poise and confidence.”
In addition to a first-place finish, Albrecht took home co-medalist honors after setting an Invitational record with Kentucky junior Grace Rose. Albrecht’s score of 211 (5-under par) was just one stroke off of her career best of 210, which she she carded at the Minnesota Invitational earlier this season.
Holt said she was extremely happy with Albrecht’s performance, saying it helped to motivate the rest of the team.
“Emma has continued her great play from last year, and it’s great to see her get her first win,” Holt said. “She works hard on her game, and I am really happy to see her get rewarded for it. This is a very talented team, and they get better by being pushed by each other. I know this will motivate the others to try and get their first win.”
While the squad struggled to maintain a strong performance over the course of last season, Holt attributes her team’s newfound success to one thing: consistency.
“The consistency has come from just playing to [the team’s] potential from day to day,” Holt said. “Also knowing if they don’t, it will greatly impact our ranking due to the competitive schedule we play every year. We fell victim to that last year.”
Other top finishers for the Irish at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational included juniors Maddie Rose Hamilton and Isabella DiLisio, who tied for fourth and 20th places, respectively. Hamilton’s three-day total was 70-73-73 for an even-par 216, while DiLisio carded a three-day total of 72-80-71 for a 7-over-par 223. Freshman Abby Heck finished the tournament 72-74-76 for a total of 222 (6-over par), which tied her for 15th overall.
After a two-week hiatus, the Irish will return to action Oct. 27, when they compete in the Landfall Tradition Invitational in Wilmington, North Carolina, which features a competitive field, including ACC rivals Duke, Virginia, Clemson and North Carolina State.
