Oct. 20, 2015
by Chris Masters
SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. — Consistent play usually will result in success on the golf course. The University of Notre Dame women’s golf team battled hard but never quite found that consistency at the Cardinal Cup, finishing seventh in the 15-team tournament that concluded Tuesday afternoon at the University of Louisville Golf Club (par 72/6,132 yards) in Simpsonville, Kentucky.
The Fighting Irish had moved into third place after two rounds with a solid performance on Monday afternoon, but that hard work dissolved on Tuesday, as Notre Dame posted its highest team score of the season and wound up at 35-over par 899 (303-287-309) for the 54-hole event. Prior to this week, the Fighting Irish had not shot higher than 298 all season.
In spite of its uncharacteristic team score, No. 30 Notre Dame did pick up two victories over Golfstat Top 50 opponents at the Cardinal Cup, placing one stroke ahead of 26th-rated East Carolina and four shots better than No. 41 Illinois, and the Fighting Irish did wind up just four shots back of third-place Chattanooga. Host Louisville won the tournament at 878 (+14), 11 shots ahead of Florida State.
“This just wasn’t our day,” Fighting Irish head coach Susan Holt said. “As a group, we had a lot of bad breaks with balls that were plugged in bunkers and balls that landed under the lips of bunkers with no shot. We’ll regroup and move on.”
Freshman Isabella DiLisio (Hatfield, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) was the top Notre Dame finisher at the Cardinal Cup, tying for sixth place at four-over par 220 (74-68-78). It was DiLisio’s third top-10 finish in her first four college tournaments, as she wound up seven shots behind tournament co-medalists Brooke Ferrell (Wisconsin) and Jacqueline Chulya (Columbia).
Fellow rookie Emma Albrecht (Ormond Beach, Fla./Father Lopez) also earned a top-10 showing, tying her career best with a share of ninth place at five-over par 221. Albrecht, who was competed as an individual participant at the Cardinal Cup, has finished in the top 15 at all four of her college events to date while matching her ninth-place outing at the season-opening Mary Fossum Invitational, which she also played as an individual.
Junior Jordan Ferreira (University Place, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) collected her third top-25 placement in four tries this year, tying for 23rd place at 10-over par 226 (78-72-76).
Senior captain Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy) ended in a 37th-place tie at 14-over par 230 (80-74-76), while freshman Maddie Rose Hamilton (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy) tied for 54th place at 17-over par 233 (76-73-84). Sophomore Kari Bellville (Granger, Ind./Penn) completed the Fighting Irish contingent in a 62nd-place tie at 20-over par 236 (75-82-79).
Notre Dame immediately heads to Wilmington, North Carolina, as the Fighting Irish prepare to tee off in their final tournament of the fall season, the Landfall Tradition, which begins Friday on the Dye Course at the Country Club of Landfall. Notre Dame finished third last year in the tournament that annually features some of the nation’s top teams and is considered one of the most challenging on the college golf circuit.
“The good news is we are on to Wilmington and a course we really like and can score on,” Holt said. “There will be lots of opportunities for some good head-to-head wins this weekend.”
Live scoring for the Landfall Tradition will be available through the Golfstat web site (golfstat.com)
For more information on the Notre Dame women’s golf program, visit the women’s golf page on 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.
Cardinal Cup
Oct. 19-20, 2015
University of Louisville Golf Club (par 72/6,132 yards)
Simpsonville, Kentucky
FINAL TEAM SCORES (54-hole totals): 1. Louisville 878 (287-297-294); 2. Florida State 889 (296-289-304); 3. Chattanooga 895 (303-298-294); 4. Wisconsin 896 (302-295-299); 5. Virginia Tech 897 (301-298-298); 6. Louisville (B) 898 (302-295-301); 7. NOTRE DAME 899 (303-287-309); 8. East Carolina 900 (296-302-302); 9. Illinois 903 (299-292-312); 10. Columbia 904 (301-300-303); 11. Cincinnati 913 (304-296-313); 12. Richmond 914 (308-299-307); 13. Indiana 923 (314-309-300); 14. Ball State 931 (307-305-319); 15. Bradley 932 (322-302-308).
TOP EIGHT INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME GOLFERS (of 81): 1. (tie) Brooke Ferrell (UW) 213 (66-74-73) and Jacqueline Chulya (COL) 213 (72-71-70); 3. (tie) Kim Metraux (FSU) 215 (74-69-72) and Lexie Long (UL-B) 215 (70-74-71); 5. Laura Restrepo (UL) 216 (70-73-73); 6. (tie) Isabella DiLisio (ND) 220 (74-68-78), Emily McLennan (CHATT) 220 (76-74-70) and Katie Mitchell (LOU) 220 (73-73-74); 9. (tie) Emma Albrecht (ND)* 221 (71-75-75); 23. (tie) Jordan Ferreira (ND) 226 (78-72-76); 37. (tie) Talia Campbell (ND) 230 (80-74-76); 54. (tie) Maddie Rose Hamilton (ND) 233 (76-73-84); 62. (tie) Kari Bellville (ND) 236 (75-82-79).
* – competing as individual participant
— 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).