Irish Women's Golf Announces 2011-12 Schedule

Aug. 12, 2011

Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame women’s golf coach Susan Holt has announced the team’s 2011-12 golf schedule that will feature nine invitational tournaments, including four in the fall and five in the spring. The Irish will open the season on September 19-21 at the Golfweek Conference Challenge near Vail, Colo., and close the regular season April 22-24 at the BIG EAST Championship in Orlando, Fla.

“Top to bottom, it is the most competitive schedule we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said Holt, now in her sixth season guiding the Irish.

“It’s a sign of where we’ve come as a program and it will be a challenge with many of the top programs competing each week. The schedule will definitely give us a true sense of where we stand as a team and means we need to be prepared to compete every day.”

Notre Dame will open the fall schedule on Sept. 19 when they compete in the Golfweek Conference Challenge at the Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, Colo. This tournament will feature the top-ranked team in each conference based on last season’s fall Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. The previous year’s winners receive automatic invitations to defend their titles. This is the third year that Golfweek has sponsored this tournament and the first time that Notre Dame has participated.

From there, the Irish will head to the Tar Heel Invitational at Chapel Hill, N.C., for a 54-hole tournament, Oct. 7-9. This also is the first time that Notre Dame has participated in this tournament.

“The first two tournaments on the schedule will be first-time events for our program and will feature the top teams in the country,” explained Holt, the 2011 BIG EAST women’s coach of the year.

“The Golfweek Conference Challenge features all the top-ranked teams from last fall and the tournament in North Carolina is one of the premier tournaments in the country. Both will be excellent challenges for our team.”

On Oct. 17-18, Notre Dame returns to action in the state of Indiana as the Irish visit Carmel, Ind., and Crooked Stick Golf Club for the Indiana University Fall Invitational. That 54-hole tournament will feature 36 holes on Monday with 18 on Tuesday.

The final fall tournament comes Oct. 28-30 at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C. at the Country Club of Landfall and will be hosted by UNC-Wilmington. The Irish were sixth in the 2010 tournament in a field of 18 teams.

The spring portion of the schedule includes five tournaments followed by the NCAA regionals and NCAA championship tournament.

The Irish will open the spring on March 2-4 when they travel to Hilton Head, S.C. to participate in the inaugural Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Tournament that will be hosted by the University of South Carolina.

One week later, Notre Dame again invades Southeastern Conference territory as Holt’s golfers travel to the LSU Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge, La.

The Irish will then spend Spring Break in Mesa, Arizona where they will play host to the 2012 Clover Cup Tournament that will be held from March 16-18 at the Longbow Golf Club in Mesa. This will be the first time that Notre Dame has hosted a tournament in the Arizona sun.

The final regular-season tournament has the Irish returning to Athens, Ga., from March 30 to April 1 to participate in the University of Georgia’s Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic at the University of Georgia Golf Club. Notre Dame competed there in 2010-11 and finished eighth of 23 teams in a tourney that included 19 ranked teams.

The lone tournament in the month of April comes on April 22-24 when the Irish will defend their 2011 BIG EAST Championship. Notre Dame picked up its fourth BIG EAST title last season with a 13-stroke win over second-place Louisville. This year’s BIG EAST Tournament will be played at the Reunion Resort and Golf Club in Orlando, Fla.

The NCAA Regionals will be played at three sites from May 10-12 at either the Penn State Golf Club at State College, Pa., the Ohio State Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio or at the Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, Colo. The Irish were fifth at last year’s regional that was held at Notre Dame’s Warren Golf Course and advanced to the NCAA Championship for the first time in the program’s 23-year history.

The NCAA Championship closes out the 2011-12 campaign and will be played this year at Vanderbilt’s Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn. from May 21-25.

Holt returns three golfers from last season’s NCAA tournament squad led by seniors Katie Allare (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Becca Huffer (Denver, Colo.) along with sophomore Kristina Nhim (Cypress, Calif.). They will be joined by highly touted freshmen Ashley Armstrong (Flossmoor, Ill.) and Kelli Oride (Lihue, Hawaii).

“We are looking forward to the coming season,” says Holt. “We are coming of a pretty good year last year and are in a good position with our returning players. Our freshman class is strong with a pair of proven players who will step in and make positive contributions this season.”

2011-12 Notre Dame Women's Golf Schedule
September19-21  Mon.-Wed..  at Golfweek Conference Challenge (hosted by University of Denver)                   at Red Sky Golf Club (Wolcott, Colo.)
October7-9    Fri.-Sun.   at Tar Heel Invitational (hosted by University of North Carolina)                   at Finley Golf Course (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
17-18  Mon.-Tues.  at Indiana University Fall Invitational (hosted by University of Indiana)                   at Crooked Stick Golf Club (Carmel, Ind.)
28-30  Fri.-Sun.   at Landfall Tradition (hosted by UNC-Wilmington)                   at The Country Club of Landfall (Wilmington, N.C.)
March2-4    Fri.-Sun.   at Darius Rucker Intercollegiate (hosted by University of South Carolina)                   at Long Cove Golf Club (Hilton Head, S.C.)
9-11   Fri.-Sun.   at LSU Tiger Classic (hosted by Louisiana State University)                   at University Club of Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge, La.)
16-18  Fri.-Sun.   at 2012 Clover Cup (hosted by University of Notre Dame)                   at Longbow Golf Club (Mesa, Ariz.)
30-1   Fri.-Sun.   at Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic (hosted by University of Georgia)                   at University of Georgia Golf Club (Athens, Ga.)
April22-24  Sun.-Tues.  at BIG EAST Championship (hosted by BIG EAST)                   at Reunion Resort and Golf Club (at Orlando, Fla.)
May10-12  Thur.-Sat.  at NCAA Regionals                   at Penn State Golf Course (State College, Pa.)                   at Ohio State Scarlet Course (Columbus, Ohio)                   at Colorado National Golf Club (Erie, Colo.)
23-25  Wed.-Fri.   at NCAA Championship                   Vanderbilt Legends Golf Club (at Franklin, Tenn.)