March 7, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The No. 22 University of Notre Dame women’s golf team travels to Mesa, Ariz. this weekend to host the second annual Clover Cup Tournament at the par-72 Longbow Golf Club (6,209 yards). The three-day tournament will begin Friday with the first group teeing off at 8:00a.m. (MT) and will conclude Sunday with an 8:00 a.m. (MT) shotgun start.
“I look for us to play well,” says head coach Susan Holt. “This is a course where course management is very important and I think this plays to our strength overall as a team. We are a disciplined team and make good decisions while playing. As hosts of the tournament we have tried to set up the course to make it fun for the players and give them opportunities to shoot low scores. It is my hope we have the most fun and shoot the lowest scores and come away with a win. There are two top-25 schools in the field, Texas Tech and Oklahoma, which will give us great competition. We will have to earn a win as both these teams are playing well right now.”
LIVE STATS/RESULTS: Hole-by-hole results can be seen via golfstat.com. Results will be updated periodically after every three holes of play. Final team and individual standings will additionally be posted on golfstat.com. Receive a text message via Irish alerts for end of the day scores. Sign up for the service by visiting the fan center tab at the top of UND.com. Follow the Irish via Twitter @NDwomensGolf. A full recap will be posted each day on UND.com with final results.
TEAMS (16): Cincinnati, Colorado, Florida International, Georgetown, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, SMU, Texas Tech, Tulsa
FORMAT: A total of 54 holes will be played over the span of the three-day contest and 18 holes will be played each day. Teams will tee off in a stagger start from holes one and 10 on the first two days. A shotgun start will be administered on the final day with an award ceremony to follow. Updated tee times can be found on golfstat.com for each day of play.
FORECAST: Thursday will see mostly sunny skies and a high of 75 degrees for the practice round. Friday is calling for scattered thunderstorms with a 50 percent chance of rain and a high of 50 degrees. Wind will be moving out of the southwest at 15 miles per hour. Saturday will see a tapering off of showers in the afternoon with a high of 59 degrees. Mostly sunny skies will be seen on the final day (Sunday) with a high of 68 degrees.
THE COURSE: The Longbow Golf Club will serve as the host venue for the 2013 Clover Cup. The par-72 course measures a distance of 6,209 yards. The course has been awarded numerous honors most notably named as one of the Top 100 Resort Courses in the Country (Golfweek Magazine 2009) and a Top 20 Best Public Access Courses in Arizona (Golfweek Magazine 2010). Longbow has been awarded a course of distinction the last four years by Golfweek Magazine. Last year the venue was named One of The Top 20 Courses in Arizona by Golfweek Magazine. It has played host to multiple tournaments including the 2010 NCAA Division II Women’s Golf Championship and the WAC Women’s Golf Championship (’10, 2011). The course was built in 1997 and designed by Ken Kavanaugh. The course has been given a 72.7 course rating and a 132 slope rating by the United States Golf Association.
EXPERIENCE: The Clover Cup will be the second spring tournament of the season and the fifth overall this year for the Irish. Four of the five roster members have played at Longbow Golf Club in the past. The Clover Cup will be the homecoming for Weaver as the Irish freshman hails from nearby Scottsdale, Ariz.
BREAKING DOWN THE FIELD: The Irish hold a 12-4 record on the year against the teams in the field. Notre Dame will see five teams for the first time this season (Cincinnati, FIU, Nebraska, Georgetown and Illinois). A total of nine teams return after participating in last year’s Clover Cup. The Irish will attempt to keep a perfect record in the BIG-EAST this season as they took down BIG-EAST foe South Florida in the fall and battle Georgetown this weekend. Notre Dame will see two teams ranked in Golfstat’s top-25 which include No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 16 Texas Tech. The Irish have defeated Kansas, Michigan and Texas Tech on two occasions already this season. Oklahoma is the only team that the Irish have not defeated in the field. This will be the second-straight tournament the Irish will see Michigan, Oklahoma and Kansas as the trio was represented in the Seminole Match-Up’s field three weekends ago.
LAST TIME OUT: Notre Dame last competed Feb. 15-17 at the Seminole Match-Up in Tallahassee, Fla. at the par 72 Southwood Golf Course (6,314 yards). The Irish finished seventh out of 12 teams and posted a team score of a 42-over -par 906 (300-299-307). Lindsey Weaver (t-8th) led Notre Dame with a two-over-par 218. Weaver and Talia Campbell each shot an even-par round in the tournament. Weaver eagled hole seven in the first round (par-four, 288 yards). Weaver and Campbell currently sit in Golfstat’s top-25 freshman class impact rankings.
LAST YEAR’S CLOVER CUP: The Irish finished fifth out of 12 teams last March at the first annual Clover Cup with a team effort of a 41-over-par 905 (288-296-321). Becca Huffer led the Irish with a five-over par 221 tying for eighth. Kristina Nhim fired two rounds at even par for a final ledger of an eight-over-par 224. Ashley Armstrong fired her best career round at last year’s tournament with a 67 in the first round. Armstrong finished with a nine-over-par 225 to tie for 16th place out of the field of 71 participants. Colorado won the event with a nine-under-par 855 (277-281-297).
OVERVIEW: To date, through five tournaments, the Irish have compiled seven top-10 finishes and 11 top-25 finishes between all five active roster members. Notre Dame currently holds a 54-19-0 record on the year and a 297.69 team stroke average.
Following the Clover Cup the Irish will head to Augusta, Ga. March 15-17 to participate in the three-day Insperity Lady Jaguar Intercollegiate Tournament.
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