Oct. 17, 2015
by Chris Masters
Cardinal Cup
Dates: Oct. 19-20, 2015
Format: 54 holes (36 holes Monday, 18 holes Tuesday)
Tee Times: 9:30 a.m. ET Monday; 9:15 a.m. ET Tuesday (shotgun starts both days)
Location: Simpsonville, Kentucky
Course (Par/Yardage): University of Louisville Golf Club (par 72/6,132 yards)
Tournament Field (in order of latest Golfstat ranking): Louisville (19), East Carolina (26), Notre Dame (30), Florida State (33), Illinois (41), Indiana (51), Virginia Tech (66), Chattanooga (68), Wisconsin (92), Columbia (123), Richmond (127), Cincinnati (131), Bradley (160), Ball State (211).
Notre Dame Lineup (2015-16 stroke average): Isabella DiLisio (72.13), Talia Campbell (71.75), Maddie Rose Hamilton (74.13), Kari Bellville (73.50), Jordan Ferreira (74.00), Emma Albrecht (73.13 — competing as individual)
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
Twitter: @NDwomensGolf
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The majority of NCAA women’s golf programs would be thrilled with two wins and three top-five finishes in their first three tournaments of the season. The University of Notre Dame isn’t your average golf program.
The Fighting Irish have used that early-season success to fuel their fire for even greater heights, a challenge that continues Monday and Tuesday when they travel to Atlantic Coast Conference rival Louisville for the Cardinal Cup, which will be played at the University of Louisville Golf Club (par 72/6,132 yards) in Simpsonville, Kentucky.
Rated 30th in the first Golfstat rankings released on Oct. 14, Notre Dame will face one of its strongest fields of the young 2015-16 season, with more than half (eight) of the 14 teams at the Cardinal Cup currently ranked in the top 70 by Golfstat, including six rated at No. 51 or better.
The Fighting Irish have had the past two weeks off since winning Nebraska’s Chip-N Club Invitational by a whopping 30 strokes, finishing at 860 (-4), the second-lowest score relative to par in program history. Since that victory, the Notre Dame players have kept their games sharp, both on the course and in the classroom, as the University closes out mid-term exams and term papers before sending its students off on a week-long fall break.
“We’re really looking forward to returning to Louisville’s tournament for the first time since 2007,” Fighting Irish head coach Susan Holt said. “Practices have been going well the last week or so and I like how everyone is hitting it. This field will give us a chance to pick up some quality wins against a few teams currently ranked ahead of us.
“This is a golf course that demands great course management,” Holt added. “That’s something I think our players will handle very well. It’s important to have very small, well-defined targets on many tee shots and our players are very accurate off the tee, so that should set the holes up well for us. The key will be to take advantage of our opportunities and make our putts, as we did in the final two rounds at Nebraska.”
Freshman Isabella DiLisio (Hatfield, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) will hold down the top spot in the Notre Dame lineup after posting a second-place finish at the Chip-N Club Invitational at two-under par 214, earning her second top-five outing in her first three college tournaments. DiLisio currently ranks second on the team with a 72.13 stroke average this season.
Senior captain Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy) has placed in the top 20 in her last six events, and eight of nine dating back to last year, and will play in the No. 2 position for the Fighting Irish at the Cardinal Cup. Campbell owns a team-best 71.75 stroke average and is coming off a third-place finish at the Chip-N Club Invitational at one-under par 215, thanks in part to a school record-tying 66 in the final round (matching DiLisio’s mark in the second round of the same tournament).
Freshman Maddie Rose Hamilton (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) returns to her hometown this weekend after turning in the best outing of her young career, tying for fourth at the Chip-N Club Invitational at even-par 216 while playing as an individual competitor. Hamilton was named Kentucky Miss Golf in 2013 and was a three-time all-state selection at Sacred Heart Academy, in addition to claiming the 2013 Kentucky Golf Association Junior Player of the Year award. Hamilton, who has compiled a 74.13 stroke average in her first three college tournaments, could prove to be an x-factor for Notre Dame at the Cardinal Cup with her intimate knowledge of the UofL Golf Club (formerly known as the Cardinal Club before its recent renovation) through numerous practice rounds and junior tournaments.
Sophomore Kari Bellville (Granger, Ind./Penn) is playing some of the best golf of her college career and brings a 73.50 stroke average into the Cardinal Cup. Bellville tied Hamilton for fourth place at the Chip-N Club Invitational with a career-low 216 that featured a personal-best 68 in the second round.
Junior Jordan Ferreira (University Place, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) again will give Notre Dame veteran experience in the No. 5 spot in the lineup. Ferreira has posted a 74.00 stroke average this season and her tie for 10th place at the Chip-N Club Invitational (219/+3) was her best finish since her college debut at the 2013 IU Fall Kickoff.
Freshman Emma Albrecht (Ormond Beach, Fla./Father Lopez) will be Notre Dame’s individual competitor at the Cardinal Cup. Albrecht has finished in the top 15 at all three tournaments this season, most recently tying for 14th place at the Chip-N Club Invitational at five-over par 221. Albrecht is third on the team this season with a 73.13 stroke average.
Louisville will provide live scoring of the Cardinal Cup through the Golfstat web site (Golfstat.com), with in-progress updates also provided through the Fighting Irish women’s golf Twitter feed (@NDwomensGolf).
For more information on the Notre Dame women’s golf program, visit the women’s golf page of the official Fighting Irish athletics web site (UND.com/ndwomensgolf), sign up to follow the Notre Dame women’s golf Twitter feed (@NDwomensGolf) or register for the Irish ALERT text-messaging system through the “Fan Center” pulldown menu on the front page at UND.com.
— ND —
Chris Masters, associate athletics communications director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2001 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s golf and women’s basketball programs. A native of San Francisco, California, Masters is a 1996 graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, earned his master’s degree from Kansas State University in 1998, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).