Irish Head To ACC Championship

April 18, 2018

By Dan Colleran

Live Scoring | ACC Championship Central | Notre Dame Stats | ACC Release | Notre Dame Records Book

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Following eight regular-season tournaments spread over the fall and spring semesters – played in seven states in varying conditions – the Notre Dame women’s golf team will turn the page to the postseason this weekend when it tees it up on Saturday, April 21, at the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Golf Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The competition will once again be fierce and serve as a great test. The Irish (46) are one of the 11 ACC teams (of a possible 12) ranked in the top 55 of the latest Golfstat rankings.

“The conference championship is its own season,” head coach Susan Holt said. “It’s three rounds to make a statement in the best women’s golf conference in the country. There are 10 ACC teams ranked in the top 50. No other conference can make that claim.”

The three-day tournament will take place at the Grandover Resort & Conference Center (East Course). The Irish will get underway at 9 a.m. ET Saturday and, paired with No. 11 Virginia Tech and No. 12 Boston College, will start on hole 10.

“There is no better way for us to prepare for the NCAA tournament than to play in the ACC Championship,” Holt added. “To contend here we have to be sharp mentally and physically. The same is true at the NCAA tournament. This will be a great way for us to see where we are at a critical point in our season.”

It will mark Notre Dame’s fifth ACC Championship and first played on Grandover’s East Course, where the championship was also contested in 1996, 1998 and 1999. This season’s championship was originally scheduled for April 20-22 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“Playing a new course this year really doesn’t give any one team an advantage since no one has played it before,” head coach Susan Holt said. “We will have a lot to take in during our practice round in order to put a good strategy in place on how to play the course.”

2018 ACC Championship

Dates: April 21-23, 2018
Format: 54 holes (18 holes Saturday-Monday)
Tee Times (split tees off No. 1 and No. 10): 9-10:30 a.m. ET Saturday; 9:00-10:30 a.m. ET Sunday; 8:30-9:20 a.m. ET Monday. Exact Sunday and Monday tee times determined by team standings at close of prior round.
Location: Greensboro, North Carolina
Course (Par/Yardage): Grandover Resort & Conference Center — East Course (par 72/ 6,122-yards)
TV Coverage: ACC Network Extra | 2-4 pm on Sunday; 1-3:30 pm on Monday
Dean Linke ââ’¬” Play-by-play | Donna Andrews ââ’¬” Analyst
Tournament Field (in order of seeding/Golfstat ranking): Duke (5), Wake Forest (19), North Carolina (22), Miami (26), Louisville (28), Virginia (30), NC State (31), Florida State (32), Clemson (33), Notre Dame (46), Virginia Tech (54), Boston College (127).
Notre Dame Lineup: Emma Albrecht (1), Mia Ayer (2), Isabella DiLisio (3), Abby Heck (4), Maddie Rose Hamilton (5).
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
Twitter: @NDwomensGolf

NOTING THE SEASON

• The Irish had a strong start to the season, tying for third at the Minnesota Invitational (Sept. 11-12), tying for sixth at the Schooner Fall Classic (Sept. 23-25) and winning the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational (Oct. 6-8).
• Emma Albrecht led the Irish with a seventh-place showing at the Minnesota Invitational (68-72-70=210). She then carded a career-low 67 in the second round of the Schooner Fall Classic and posted her first career win at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational when she claimed co-medalist honors (70-69-73=211).
• Prior to winning the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, Notre Dame’s last tournament win came when it finished first at the Chip-N Club Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska (Oct. 6, 2015).
• Albrecht became Notre Dame’s first medalist sinceKristina Nhim won the Clover Cup in Mesa, Arizona on March 16, 2014.
• Maddie Rose Hamilton also tied for fourth at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational with an even-par 216 marking the first time Notre Dame had two individuals finish in the top five of an event since Oct. 5-6, 2015.
• Hamilton set the program record by shooting a second round 65 (-6) at the Schooner Fall Classic. The -6 also tied for the lowest round in program history in relation to par. Previously,So-Hyun Park (2008-09) andLisa Maunu (2007-08) also carded six-under par scores, both of which were 66’s on par 72 courses.
• Also at the at the Schooner Fall Classic, Notre Dame carded a final round 278 (-6) marked the second-lowest score in program history, just one stroke off the record of 277 carded in the second round of the 2014 Schooner Classic. The -6 also tied for the their best round in program history in relation to par.
• Notre Dame’s three-round total of 854 (+2) at the Schooner Fall Classic also marked the second-lowest three-round score in program history and the fourth-best three-round score in relation to par.

NOTRE DAME UNDER COACH HOLT

• Head coach Susan Holt is in her 12th season leading the Irish. Over the previous 11 seasons, she has led Notre Dame to nine NCAA regional appearances and helped Notre Dame earn its first NCAA Championship berth in program history (2011).
• In addition, the Irish have captured four conference titles, won 17 tournament championships (team) and had 15 individual medalist winners.
• Holt’s Irish players have also earned 27 all-conference accolades as well as the first two All-America selections in Notre Dame women’s golf history.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW

• Notre Dame has finished in the top five in 12 of its previous 15 conference tournament appearances, dating back to the inaugural BIG EAST Conference Championship in 2003.
• Last season, Notre Dame tied for ninth (298-297-306-901), while Emma Albrecht led the team by tying for 17th (74-72-73-219).
• Entering its fifth ACC Championship, Notre Dame is seeking its first ACC tournament title and sixth conference championship overall.
• Notre Dame’s most recent conference title came in the 2012-13 BIG EAST Championship.
• Five Notre Dame golfers have posted four consecutive top-15 finishes in conference tournament play, including (in BIG EAST play) Katie Brophy (2003-06), Noriko Nakazaki (2004-07), Annie Brophy (2007-10) and Becca Huffer (2009-12). Then in 2016 Talia Campbell became the fifth Notre Dame golfer to post four consecutive top-15 finishes in conference tournament play.

— ND —

Dan Colleran, Director of Athletics Communications at the University of Notre Dame, has been a part of Fighting Irish Media since August 2015 and coordinates all media and publicity efforts surrounding the Notre Dame hockey and golf programs. A native of Walpole, Massachusetts, Colleran spent the previous three years working with the men’s hockey and soccer programs at Providence College. Colleran also spent two years as an Assistant Executive Director of Communications & Championships at the Ivy League and is a graduate of Providence College (’06 & ’08G).