MESA, Ariz. — Following the opening round of play on Friday at the Longbow Golf Club, the Notre Dame women’s golf team sits in fifth place in a 15-team field at the 2019 Clover Cup. The Irish, who are the host team for the event, posted a team score of 303 and are 11 shots off the lead held by Southern California.
Notre Dame set the pace for the entire field to kick off the tournament with a team-best 16 team birdies. The Irish were equally adept on both the par 3s (3.30) and par 5s (4.85), posting the third-best scoring averages on Friday.
Emma Albrecht raced out of the gates and into the lead by chipping in for an eagle at the par-5 first hole, quickly shooting to -2. A birdie at the par-5 ninth offset a double bogey at the par-4 fifth hole and a dropped shot at the par-4 eighth hole to cap an opening nine 36 for Albrecht. The Notre Dame senior made her third birdie of the day (second on a par 5) by rolling in a four at the 15th hole to highlight a matching 36 on the back nine, tying for third place overall with an even-par 72.
Isabella DiLisio fired an opening round score of 75 (+3) that featured a tournament-high six birdies on day one to tie for 16th. DiLisio finished the front nine on a roll with birdies at the par-3 seventh, par-4 eighth and par-5 ninth holes to make the turn in 37. After falling a bit off the pace in her second nine, the Irish senior birdied three of her final four holes on the afternoon to card a 38 on the back side.
Mia Ayer added five birdies over the course of her first 18 holes of play, shooting a combined -4 from the fourth through ninth holes to go out in 34 (-2) and climb near the top of the leaderboard. A single birdie on the back nine at the par-5 15th hole balanced out a 77 (+5) that left Ayer tied for 30th.
Abby Heck rounded out the scoring from the Notre Dame starting lineup with a round of 79 (+7).
Southern California holds the team lead by six shots after posting a score of 292 (+4) in the first round, followed by Kentucky (298, +10), Mississippi State (298, +10), Oklahoma (299, +11) and Notre Dame.
5. Notre Dame (303)
T3. Emma Albrecht (72)
T16. Isabella DiLisio (75)
T30. Mia Ayer (77)
T47. Abby Heck (79)
T83. Claire Albrecht (87)
2019 Clover Cup Rounds 2-3
Dates: March 16-17, 2019
Format/Tee Times: Play on Saturday will kick off with split tee times off holes No. 1 and No. 10 beginning at 8 a.m. (MT), while Sunday’s final round is set to feature an 8 a.m. shotgun start.
Location: Mesa, Arizona
Course (Par/Yardage): Longbow Golf Club; Par 72; 6,184 yards
The Field (15): Notre Dame (host), Cincinnati, FIU, Houston, IUPUI, Kansas State, Kentucky, Mercer, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, UNCG, USC, Western Carolina and Wisconsin.
Notre Dame Lineup: Emma Albrecht (1), Claire Albrecht (2), Abby Heck (3), Mia Ayer (4) and Isabella DiLisio (5).
Live Scoring: birdiefire.com
Twitter: @NDwomensGolf
Clover Cup Notes
• Notre Dame has hosted the Clover Cup in each of the last seven seasons dating back to 2012.
• The Irish posted a team runner-up finish in the tournament on two occasions (score of 889, 2014; score of 896, 2015) for their best finishes at the event.
• Kristina Nhim owns the best Notre Dame individual result in tournament history, taking home medalist honors by besting 85 other players at the 2014 Clover Cup with a three-round score of 213 (68-72-73=213, -3).
Career Best Rounds (most recent occurrence listed)
• Emma Albrecht: 67 (third round of the 2018 NCAA Madison Regional at the University Ridge Golf Course)
• Isabella DiLisio: 67 (second round of the 2017 Schooner Fall Classic at the Belmar Golf Club)
• Maddie Rose Hamilton: 65 (second round of the 2017 Schooner Fall Classic at the Belmar Golf Club)
• Mia Ayer: 71 (third round of the 2018 Schooner Fall Classic at the Belmar Golf Club)
• Abby Heck: 68 (first round of the 2019 Moon Golf Invitational)
• Claire Albrecht: 72 (third round of the 2018 Minnesota Invitational at the Prestwick Golf Club)
— ND —