April 14, 2016

By Chris Masters

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – With a potent blend of veteran experience and youthful talent, the University of Notre Dame women’s golf team tees off the 2016 postseason at 9:40 a.m. (ET) Friday in the first round of the ACC Championship at the Sedgefield Country Club (par 72/6,089 yards) in Greensboro, North Carolina.

This weekend’s tournament caps off the third ACC season for the Fighting Irish, who are among 10 conference teams currently ranked in the top 50, according to Golfstat (including seven in the top 40).

ACC Championship
Dates:
April 15-17, 2016
Format: 54 holes (18 holes Friday-Sunday)
Tee Times: 9:40 a.m. ET Friday; 8-11:10 a.m. ET Saturday; 8:30-10 a.m. ET Sunday (begin on No. 1 Friday-Saturday; split-tee start Sunday) … exact Saturday and Sunday tee times determined by team standings at close of prior round
Location: Greensboro, North Carolina
Course (Par/Yardage): Sedgefield Country Club (par 72/6,089 yards)
TV: ESPN3 (2 p.m. ET Saturday; 1 p.m. ET Sunday)
Tournament Field (in order of latest Golfstat ranking): Duke (5), Virginia (18), Florida State (20), NOTRE DAME (37), North Carolina State (38), Louisville (39), Miami (40), Wake Forest (45), North Carolina (46), Clemson (47), Virginia Tech (101) and Boston College (158).
Notre Dame Lineup (2015-16 stroke average): Talia Campbell (73.27), Maddie Rose Hamilton (75.15), Isabella DiLisio (74.42), Emma Albrecht (74.23), Jordan Ferreira (75.38).
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
Twitter: @NDwomensGolf

Notre Dame has finished in the top five at its conference tournament in eight of its first nine seasons under head coach Susan Holt (left), highlighted by three titles during its final six years in the BIG EAST (2008, 2011, 2013).

Here’s a look at five things you need to know as Notre Dame steps to the No. 1 tee at Sedgefield on Friday morning:

  • Notre Dame has finished in the top five in 12 of its previous 13 conference tournament appearances, dating back to the inaugural BIG EAST Conference Championship in 2003. Ironically, the one time the Fighting Irish placed outside the top five was last year, when they took sixth even while shooting the second-lowest conference tournament team score in program history (876/+12).
  • Unlike Notre Dame’s first two appearances at the ACC Championship in 2014 and 2015, which were played in overcast, cool and occasionally rainy conditions, this weekend’s forecast is ideal for tournament golf, calling for clear to mostly sunny skies and light breezes and temperatures in the upper 60s.
  • After spending their first two rounds of the 2014 tournament getting familiar with the challenging Sedgefield Country Club course (carding scores 306 and 303), the Fighting Irish have shot 296 or lower in each of their last four rounds at the ACC Championship, including an opening-round 287 (-1) last year that was the third-lowest single-round conference tournament score in program history (and Notre Dame’s best-ever first-round total in a league championship).
  • Senior captain Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy) has been Notre Dame’s top finisher in each of her three conference tournament appearances (tied for first at the 2013 BIG EAST Championship; tied for 13th at the 2014 ACC Championship; tied for 11th at last year’s ACC Championship). No Fighting Irish golfer has been the team’s top finisher in four consecutive conference tournaments – Annie Brophy led Notre Dame in three of her four BIG EAST Championships (2007, 2008, 2010). Campbell also could become the fifth Notre Dame golfer to post four consecutive top-15 finishes in conference tournament play, joining a quartet who did so under the BIG EAST banner – Katie Brophy (2003-06), Noriko Nakazaki (2004-07), Annie Brophy (2007-10) and Becca Huffer (2009-12).
  • It’s worth noting with Notre Dame having three freshmen in its starting lineup this weekend – the Fighting Irish have had at least one freshman finish in the top 30 in all 13 of their conference tournament appearances, dating back to the 2003 BIG EAST Championship. What’s more, Notre Dame has been led by a freshman in six of those previous 13 league tournaments, most recently in 2013 when Campbell and Lindsey Weaver shared medalist honors at the BIG EAST Championship in Reunion, Florida.

The ACC will provide live scoring of the ACC Championship through the Golfstat web site (Golfstat.com), with in-progress updates also provided through the Fighting Irish women’s golf Twitter feed ( @NDwomensGolf). In addition, ESPN3 will televise portions of the second and third rounds live beginning at 2 p.m. (ET) Saturday and 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday.

For more information on the Notre Dame women’s golf program, visit the women’s golf page of 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.

— 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).