Oct. 19, 2015
by Chris Masters
SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. — It’s not a habit head coach Susan Holt is particularly fond of, but the University of Notre Dame women’s golf team continues to show tremendous resiliency in recovering from slow starts.
The Fighting Irish bounced back from their worst round of the season on Monday morning with one of their better rounds of the year in the afternoon, moving into third place at 14-over par 590 (303-287) through 36 holes at the 15-team Cardinal Cup, which is being played at the University of Louisville Golf Club (par 72/6,132 yards) in Simpsonville, Kentucky.
Notre Dame is six shots back of tournament host and overnight leader Louisville (584/+8), which is one shot clear of Florida State (585/+9) in completing an all-Atlantic Coast Conference trio atop the leaderboard.
In four tournaments this season (including Monday’s results), the Fighting Irish have opened by carding an average score of 295.75 (approximately nine shots over par in each event). Just as quickly, Notre Dame has flipped the script in the second round, registering an average score of 285 (about two-under par in each tournament).
“I’m proud of the fight the team showed,” Holt said. “It was a great comeback from the morning round, which was a combination of poor course management and execution. The afternoon was the exact opposite of that. Coming into the tournament, we had the lowest stroke average of all the teams here, so I’m excited for (Tuesday) and the chance to get the win.”
The Fighting Irish freshman class came into the tournament with the third-lowest combined stroke average in the nation among rookie groups this season (72.63) and the Notre Dame freshmen didn’t disappoint on Monday, led by Isabella DiLisio (Hatfield, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy), who is in second place at two-under par 142 (74-68). DiLisio’s second round included four birdies without a bogey and left her two strokes behind Wisconsin’s Brooke Ferrell, who jumped to the early lead with an opening-round 66 before the 81-player field caught up with her in the afternoon.
Freshman Emma Albrecht (Ormond Beach, Fla./Father Lopez) is filling the individual participant role for Notre Dame this week and is tied for 12th place at two-over par 146 (71-75). The third Fighting Irish rookie, Louisville native Maddie Rose Hamilton (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy), isn’t far behind in a 20th-place tie at five-over par 149 (76-73).
Notre Dame’s upperclass players enjoyed mixed results on Monday. Junior Jordan Ferreira (University Place, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) is tied for 25th place at six-over par 150 (78-72), while senior captain Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy) erased an uncharacteristic opening-round 80 and moved up to a 45th-place tie at 10-over par 154 (80-74). It was only the second time in the past two seasons Campbell, who entered the tournament with a team-best 71.75 stroke average, carded a score of 80 and her first since last fall’s Mercedes-Benz Championship.
Sophomore Kari Bellville (Granger, Ind./Penn) rounded out the scoring by the Notre Dame lineup on Monday, tying for 60th place through two rounds at 13-over par 157 (75-82).
Notre Dame gets back on the course for the final round of the Cardinal Cup at 9:15 a.m. (ET) Tuesday, with live scoring 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
TEAM SCORES (36-hole totals): 1. Louisville 584 (287-297); 2. Florida State 585 (296-289); 3. NOTRE DAME 590 (303-287); 4. Illinois 591 (299-292); 5. (tie) Wisconsin 597 (302-295) and Louisville (B) 597 (302-295); 7. East Carolina 598 (296-302); 8. Virginia Tech 599 (301-298); 9. Cincinnati 600 (304-296); 10. (tie) Chattanooga 601 (303-298) and Columbia 601 (301-300); 12. Richmond 607 (308-299); 13. Ball State 612 (307-305); 14. Indiana 623 (314-309); 15. Bradley 624 (322-302).
TOP 11 INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME GOLFERS (of 81): 1.Brooke Ferrell (UW) 140 (66-74); 2. Isabella DiLisio (ND) 142 (74-68); 3. (tie) Jacqueline Chulya (COL) 143 (72-71), Laura Restrepo (UL) 143 (70-73) and Kim Metraux (FSU) 143 74-69); 6. (tie) Lexie Long (UL-B) 144 (70-74) and Grace Park (UI) 144 (73-71); 8. (tie) Elizabeth Bose (VT) 145 (75-70), Lydia Gumm (FSU) 145 (73-72), Kristin Chung (COL) 145 (72-73) and Olivia Cason (UL) 145 (71-74); 12. (tie) Emma Albrecht (ND)* 146 (71-75); 20. (tie) Maddie Rose Hamilton (ND) 149 (76-73); 25. (tie) Jordan Ferreira (ND) 150 (78-72); 45. (tie) Talia Campbell (ND) 154 (80-74); 60. (tie) Kari Bellville (ND) 157 (75-82).
* – 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).