The Notre Dame women’s golf team successfully defended their home turf this weekend by capturing first place at the Women’s Fighting Irish Classic. Notre Dame shot seven over par through the two-round tournament, a staggering 24 shots clear of second-place Youngstown State. The Irish had three golfers finish in the top four, with junior Alexsandra Lapple taking the cake by shooting an impressive 141 (-3).
Lapple’s victory was kickstarted by a brilliant display of golf during round one. After finishing with bogey on a hard par-five second hole, Lapple exploded. She recorded one birdie to bring herself back to even by the end of the front nine. She then notched three consecutive birdies through holes 11-13 and one more on hole 17 to finish with a 68 (-4).
Although Lapple logged four bogeys during round two after an initial early birdie, she stormed back with birdies on holes 17 and 18 to finish the round with a top-drawer 73 (+1).
Lapple’s first-place performance was closely followed by freshman Jordan Levitt. A 2025 U.S. women’s amateur qualifier, Levitt has soared since arriving in South Bend. She shot 73 (+1) during round one behind three birdies, but caught fire in round two. Levitt sank five birdies en route to a 70 (-2) finish, bringing her overall score to one under par.
Sophomore Maddy Bante placed fourth. Bante’s fantastic performance in round two, shooting one above par, brought her into the top of the pack. Bante’s fourth-place finish is the highest of her career, having finished fifth overall twice as a freshman. Bante also averaged 74.2 strokes a year ago. As she finds form in and around the greens, she has potential to be a gamechanger for the Irish.
Sandwiched in between Levitt and Bante’s second and fourth-place finishes was Youngstown State senior Maddi Shoults. Shoults delivered an even performance in round two to leapfrog much of the individual table.
Freshman Sawyer Brockstedt finished fourth for the Irish in team competition, placing 11th overall. Brockstedt shot 155 (+11) through 18 holes. A big-time addition for Notre Dame, Brockstedt finished top-10 at 15 American Junior Golf Association tournaments.
Sophomores Faustine Errecade and Caroline Owens competed as individuals, as well as freshman Taryn Cagle. Errecade displayed the best form, shooting 154 (+10) with a total of four birdies. Her showing earned her a 10th-place finish.
Owens and Cagle finished 24th and 29th, respectively. Owens shot 160 (+16) while Cagle trailed not too far behind with 162 (+18).
The win marks Notre Dame’s first in the Breanna Jenco era. Taking over the head coaching role from Caroline Powers Ellis, Jenco is a proven winner. Her track record at Xavier suggests that there is a lot more winning to be done.
Notre Dame can do just that as they head to the Sunflower Invitational hosted by Kansas on the weekend of Oct. 6. They wrap up their fall season in late October with invitationals at Texas State and UNC-Wilmington.
