Oct. 24, 2012
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s golf team wraps up the fall portion of the 2012-13 season beginning on Friday, (Oct. 26) as it travels to Wilmington, N.C., to compete in the 11th annual Landfall Tradition Tournament (LTT) hosted by the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The three-day 54-hole tournament will be played at the Country Club of Landfall’s par 72 Jack Nicklaus Course (6,138 yards).
“Each tournament we play in we are trying to win,” says head coach Susan Holt. “We have high expectations and the accountability of each player to show up and compete is high as well. So far we have done a good job. Each event we have had solid production from different players and that is what makes a strong team.”
NOTRE DAME AT THE LTT: The Irish will make their fourth appearance at the Landfall Tradition Tournament. Notre Dame had its best outing in 2010, as it rose to a sixth-place finish with a 32-over par 896 (299-301-296).
In 2011, the Irish finished in a three-way tie for 10th place with Florida St. and Wake Forest with a 70-over par 934 (306-314-314) scorecard. The Irish were just two shots behind N.C. State and North Carolina who each tied for eighth. In a field of 15 ranked schools, Notre Dame knocked off four of them.
Junior Kristina Nhim (Cypress, Calif.) tied for 16th (76-77-77-230), sophomore Kelli Oride (Lihue, Hawaii) tied for 59th (80-79-80-239) and sophomore Ashley Armstrong (Flossmoor, III.) tied for 62nd (74-82-84-240).
Purdue was last year’s tournament champion as the Boliermakers fired a team score of 40-over par 904 (304-303-297). Purdue joined New Mexico (2003, 2004) and Wake Forest (2007, 2008) with two LTT championships, gathering their second in 2005.
FIELD (17): (Golfweek/Golfstat rankings) No. 4/t10 Arizona, No. 8/t4. Duke, No. 63/NA Florida State, No. 28/21 Iowa St., No.12/t29 Michigan St., No. 30/35 Mississippi, No. 11/9 N.C. State, No. 20/17 Northwestern, No. 19/20 Notre Dame, No. 37/43 Ohio St., No. 17/6 Oklahoma St., No. 14/11 Purdue, No. 50/NA South Carolina, No. 24/23 Texas Tech, No. 128/NA UNCG, No. 76/NA UNCW, No. 52/NA Wake Forest
SCOUTING THE FIELD: Notre Dame has victories over Ohio St. and Texas Tech twice this fall. The Irish also defeated host UNC Wilmington by 36 strokes at the Windy City Collegiate Classic in early October. Notre Dame has fallen to Arizona, Michigan St., Oklahoma St. and Purdue once this fall. The Irish finished just five strokes behind Michigan St. at the Mary Fossum Invitational and six strokes behind Oklahoma St. at the Windy City Classic.
“The Landfall Tradition is one of the top five collegiate events of the year. The field of teams is always full of top 25 teams,” says head coach Susan Holt. “The participating teams stay the same for the most part from year to year. We have players with experience on the course but so does every other team. I like our chances of playing well. This is a very challenging course with a high emphasis on keeping the ball in play especially off the tee. We do a very good job of that and it should give us opportunities to hit lots of greens and make pars and birdies.”
THE COURSE: The Nicklaus Golf Course will add a unique experience to this weekend’s competition as the course is spread out over three nine-hole courses. The original 18 holes were built in 1990 and a third nine was finally added for the 2001 season. The course accompanies rolling fairways and smooth Bentgrass greens. It is abundantly surrounded by freshwater hazards and saltwater oceanic views.
WEATHER: The forecast for the weekend is calling for showers all three days. Temperatures will reach a high of 78 degrees on Friday and a low of 48 degrees on Sunday. Wind will surface Saturday at 20 mph and prolong into Sunday at 19 m.p.h.
LAST TIME OUT: In their last outing, the Irish finished second out of 18 teams with a 24-over par 888 (289-310-289) at the Susie Maxwell Berning Classic in Norman, Okla.
Freshman Lindsey Weaver (Scottsdale, Ariz.) shot her second tournament under par last week with a five-under par 211 (68-72-71). Armstrong picked up her second top-25 finish of the season as she tied for 13th firing an eight-over par 224 (75-77-72). Nhim had her best performance of the fall tying for 30th and firing an 11-over par 227 (77-78-72). Nhim was one of three Irish golfers to fire even or under par in the final round.
ON A ROLL: Freshman Lindsey Weaver is currently the No. 4 ranked player in the country by Golfweek. The freshman is 6-2 against top 25 ranked opponents and 14-3 against top 50 ranked foes.
Weaver is currently tied for eighth in the nation for the best average score through nine rounds by Golfstat.com with South California’s Doris Chen. The freshman carries a 71.78 stroke average and is one of only two freshmen in the top-10 listing.
Armstrong (117), Oride (141), Nhim (376) and freshman Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas) who ranks 171st, have all established themselves in the top percentile among Division I golfers in Golfweek’s latest rankings of the country’s top 1,000 golfers.
ABOVE AND BEYOND: All five players on the roster have fired at least one round of even or under par this fall. Weaver leads the Irish with six. Armstrong, Campbell and Oride each have two rounds even or under par and Nhim currently has one.
“We have a lot of depth. I think this is our greatest strength. We have had it under par three-four times as a team this year so far. We have not kept it there but I am confident that our best golf is still to come,” says head coach Susan Holt.
HERE COME THE IRISH: Following the Landfall Tradition, The Irish will take a four-month break before returning to action on Feb. 15-17 for the Mash Up Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla.
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