Sept. 12, 2015
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Fresh off its eighth consecutive NCAA regional berth and a top-35 finish in the final Golfstat rankings, the University of Notre Dame women’s golf team opens the 2015-16 season this weekend as the Fighting Irish defend their title at Michigan State’s Mary Fossum Invitational.
Mary Fossum Invitational
Dates: Sept. 12-13, 2015
Format: 54 holes (36 holes on Saturday, 18 holes on Sunday)
Tee Times: 8:30 a.m. ET both days (shotgun starts)
Location: East Lansing, Michigan
Course (Par/Yardage): Forest Akers West Golf Course (par 72/6,236 yards)
Tournament Field (in order of final 2014-15 Golfstat ranking): Tulane (27), Notre Dame (33), Michigan State (57), Toledo (107), Eastern Michigan (114), Western Michigan (130), Ohio University (150), Akron (165), Oakland (175), Central Michigan (245), Ferris State (non-Division I) and Grand Valley State (non-Division I) — Michigan State also will field a “B” team.
Notre Dame Lineup (final 2014-15 stroke average): Isabella DiLisio (freshman), Jordan Ferreira (74.56), Maddie Rose Hamilton (freshman), Kari Bellville (77.37), Talia Campbell (73.43), Emma Albrecht (freshman — competing as individual)
Live Scoring: BirdieFire.com
Twitter (live on-site updates): @NDwomensGolf
Here’s a look at five things you need to know as Notre Dame steps to the first tee at Forest Akers West Golf Course on Saturday morning:
- Notre Dame has opened its season with a tournament victory five times in the program’s first 27 years of existence (2003-04, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2010-11 and 2014-15). The last three of those wins came under current head coach Susan Holt, and the past two season-opening victories came at the Mary Fossum Invitational.
- Notre Dame has two wins and five top-three finishes in its last six appearances at the Mary Fossum Invitational (the Fighting Irish finished 10th in 2009 and did not compete at the tournament in 2011).
- Notre Dame posted a combined 11-2 record last year against the other teams participating in this year’s Mary Fossum Invitational. The only two losses came against Tulane (by 17 shots at the LSU Tiger Classic and by six strokes at the NCAA South Bend Regional), which coincidentally is one of the other two teams (along with Michigan State) paired with the Fighting Irish for the opening two rounds on Saturday.
- A freshman has finished as Notre Dame’s top scorer in four of its last five season openers, including current junior Jordan Ferreira (University Place, Wash./Bellarmine Prep), who tied for eighth in her college debut at the 2013 IU Fall Kickoff (a 36-hole tournament that did not include a team competition).
- Senior all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy) has finished in the top 15 twice in her three previous appearances at the Mary Fossum Invitational, including a team-best tie for fourth place (225/+9) last year. Campbell also makes her debut as Notre Dame team captain this weekend, becoming the first Fighting Irish player other than three-time Academic All-American Ashley Armstrong (’15) to earn the captain’s title since Becca Huffer (’12) in 2011-12.
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For more information on the Notre Dame women’s golf program, sign up to follow the Fighting Irish 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.
– Chris Masters, Athletics Communications Associate Director