Oct. 22, 2015

by Chris Masters

Landfall Tradition

Dates: Oct. 23-25, 2015
Format: 54 holes (18 holes Friday-Sunday)
Tee Times: 8:30 a.m. ET Friday-Saturday (split-tee starts); 8:45 a.m. ET Sunday (shotgun start)
Location: Wilmington, North Carolina
Course (Par/Yardage): Country Club of Landfall — Pete Dye Course (par 72/6,157 yards)
Tournament Field (in order of latest Golfstat ranking): Duke (2), Alabama (8), Oklahoma State (12), Virginia (14), Purdue (20), Clemson (27), North Carolina State (30), Ohio State (31), Michigan State (33), North Carolina (38), South Carolina (41), Wake Forest (43), Notre Dame (51), UCF (56), Elon (71), Penn State (84), UNCW (93) and Kentucky (97).
Notre Dame Lineup (2015-16 stroke average): Isabella DiLisio (72.45), Emma Albrecht (73.27), Jordan Ferreira (74.36), Talia Campbell (73.09), Maddie Rose Hamilton (75.09), Kari Bellville (74.91 — competing as individual)
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
Twitter: @NDwomensGolf

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Hours after a frustrating seventh-place finish at Louisville’s Cardinal Cup on Tuesday, the University of Notre Dame women’s golf team already was erasing the memory of that tournament right up the road in Lexington, Kentucky, by enjoying a Taylor Swift concert.

With apologies to the Grammy Award-winning singer, the Fighting Irish now look to turn the page and find their own “blank space” to write the next entry in the 2015-16 season as they close out their fall schedule this weekend at the Landfall Tradition, which will be played Friday through Sunday on the Pete Dye Course (par 72/6,157 yards) at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Notre Dame enters its sixth consecutive appearance at the Landfall Tradition with the sour taste of its showing at the Cardinal Cup. A combination of tough breaks and poor course management wiped out a promising performance by the Fighting Irish, who had risen to third place through two rounds before carding their highest team score of the season (309/+21) on the final day.

“We just need to regroup and move on from our finish at Louisville,” Notre Dame head coach Susan Holt said. “We need to play better golf, bottom line. There are a lot of good teams out there, and we learned the hard way that, when it’s time to compete, you have to be prepared and execute. Even on our worst day, we still have to be better than the rest.

“We are good team with good players and we have to be ready to prove it each and every time we tee it up,” she added. “This is a resilient group and I think they will be up to the challenge this weekend.”

This weekend’s tournament in Wilmington offers a prime opportunity for Notre Dame to regain its footing and wrap up the fall season on a high note, although it won’t be easy for the Fighting Irish. The Landfall Tradition is widely considered one of the elite tournaments on the college golf circuit, with a full two-thirds of the 18-team field ranked in the top 50 by Golfstat, including five of the nation’s top 25 squads.

At the same time, Notre Dame is no stranger to the Landfall Tradition and is coming off its best-ever finish at the tournament last year, when the Fighting Irish tied for third place at 871 (+7).

“The challenge will be for our players to manage themselves better on the course and stay positive to give them the best chance to play well,” Holt said. “Over the course of 18 holes, a lot can happen. We need to play with focus, stay positive and fight from start to finish. If we can do that, we will be competitive.”

Some of the most grit on this year’s Notre Dame roster has come from its freshman class, so it’s no surprise two rookies will be at the top of the Fighting Irish lineup this weekend.

Isabella DiLisio (Hatfield, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) has a team-best 72.45 stroke average this year and has finished in the top 10 in three of her four college tournaments to date. Earlier this week at the Cardinal Cup, DiLisio posted her second consecutive top-10 (and team-leading) finish, tying for sixth place at four-over par 220.

Emma Albrecht (Ormond Beach, Fla./Father Lopez) has been nearly as consistent as her classmate during her freshman season. Albrecht has turned in four top-15 finishes in as many outings this year and ranks third on the team with a 73.27 stroke average. She played as an individual competitor at the Cardinal Cup and tied for ninth place at five-over par 221, matching the best finish and 54-hole score of her young career.

Junior Jordan Ferreira (University Place, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) has shown steady progress in her last two tournaments, currently ranking fourth on the team with a career-best 74.36 stroke average. Ferreira has finished in the top 25 in three events this season, including her last two outings. She is coming off a tie for 23rd place on Tuesday at the Cardinal Cup, shooting 10-over par 226.

Without question, senior captain Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy) is hungry to rebound with a strong effort this weekend at the Landfall Tradition. Campbell, who is second on the team with a 73.09 stroke average, tied for 37th place at last weekend’s Cardinal Cup at 14-over par 230, having to battle back much of the tournament after an opening-round 80 (just her second round of 80 in the past two years).

Freshman Maddie Rose Hamilton (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) also is motivated for big things after her 54th-place tie at the Cardinal Cup. Hamilton, who owns a 75.09 stroke average this year, was poised for a top-25 finish until her momentum unraveled with a final-round 84.

Sophomore Kari Bellville (Granger, Ind./Penn) will compete as Notre Dame’s individual participant this weekend at the Landfall Tradition. It’s the second time this year Bellville is slated to fill the individual qualifier role, having also played that part at the Schooner Fall Classic. Bellville maintains a career-best 74.91 stroke average this season and will look to bounce back from a tie for 62nd place at the Cardinal Cup at 20-over par 236.

UNCW will provide live scoring of the Landfall Tradition 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).