Oct. 24, 2014
WILMINGTON, N.C. — The University of Notre Dame women’s golf team was searching for a spark to get off on the right foot at the high-powered Landfall Tradition–and Ashley Armstrong delivered.
The senior captain from Flossmoor, Illinois, matched her season low with a three-under par 69 to lead her Fighting Irish into a tie for fifth place at two-over par 290 after Friday’s opening round of the Landfall Tradition, which is being played on the challenging Pete Dye Course (par 72/6,159 yards) at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Purdue holds the overnight lead at the 18-team tournament after shooting a 283 (-5) on Friday, while Notre Dame is tied with Alabama and Oklahoma State, seven strokes off the pace in a field that includes 10 of the top 25 teams in the latest Golfstat rankings.
Like her team, Armstrong is tied for fifth on the individual ladder, three shots behind current leader Nanna Madsen of South Carolina in the 99-player field. Notre Dame’s two-time Academic All-American reeled off four birdies on Friday, producing a near-flawless round that was marred only by a bogey on No. 18.
“As a group, we managed the day well,” Fighting Irish head coach Susan Holt said. “In fact, it could have been even better, but it also could have been worse. Ashley had a breakthrough round, which for me wasn’t a surprise. She’s been close and it’s great to see her have a solid round.”
Sophomore Jordan Ferreira (University Place, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) was in contention for much of the afternoon at three-under par through 14 holes, but three bogeys on her final four holes left Ferreira at even-par 72 for the day and tied for 21st place.
Senior Kelli Oride (Lihue, Hawaii/Kauai) and freshman Kari Bellville (Granger, Ind./Penn) followed the exact opposite formula from their teammate Ferreira on Friday. Both players were three-over par midway through the front nine, but in each case, they steadied themselves and finished the round strong. Oride is tied for 36th place at two-over par 74, one stroke ahead of Bellville, who is in a 53rd-place tie at three-over par 75.
Junior Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy), who came into the tournament as Notre Dame’s stroke average leader (73.33), is tied for 71st place at six-over par 78, a score largely affected by a quadruple bogey on No. 10.
“Jordan had it going low for the better part of the day,” Holt added. “Kari was three-over after three (holes) so her to finish at (plus) three for the day was really good, and Kelli was able to post a solid round, too.”
Notre Dame will tee off in the second round of the Landfall Tradition at 9:15 a.m. (ET) Saturday, with live scoring available through the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com).
“We had a strong showing today and now we need to back it up over the next two days,” Holt said.
For more information on the Notre Dame women’s golf program, sign up to follow the Fighting Irish women’s golf Twitter pages (@NDsidMasters or @NDwomensGolf) or register for the Irish ALERT text-messaging system through the “Fan Center” pulldown menu on the front page at UND.com.
Landfall Tradition
Oct. 24, 2014 — First Round
Country Club of Landfall-Pete Dye Course (par 72/6,159 yards)
Wilmington, N.C.
TEAM SCORES (18-hole totals): 1. Purdue 283; 2. Wake Forest 286; 3. Florida 288; 4. UCF 289; 5. (tie) NOTRE DAME 290, Alabama 290 and Oklahoma State 290; 8. (tie) North Carolina 292, Tennessee 292, Virginia 292 and Ohio State 292; 12. (tie) Duke 293, Arizona 293 and South Carolina 293; 15. North Carolina State 301; 16. Penn State 308; 17. (tie) Michigan State 315 and UNC Wilmington 315.
TOP NINE INDIVIDUALS PLUS NOTRE DAME GOLFERS (of 99): 1. Nanna Madsen (USC) 66; 2. Ashley Holder (UCF) 67; 3. (tie) Aurora Kan (PUR) 68 and A.J. Newell (UT) 68; 5. (tie) Ashley Armstrong (ND) 69, Elizabeth Szokol (UVA) 69, Sierra Sims (WFU) 69, Emma Talley (ALA) 69 and Manon Gidali (ARIZ) 69; 21. (tie) Jordan Ferreira (ND) 72; 36. (tie) Kelli Oride (ND) 74; 53. (tie) Kari Bellville (ND) 75; 71. (tie) Talia Campbell (ND) 78.
— Chris Masters, Associate Athletic Media Relations Director