Sept. 11, 2015
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) ââ’¬” 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 ââ’¬” competing as individual)
Live Scoring: BirdieFire.com
Twitter (live on-site updates): @NDwomensGolf
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – It will be a blend of veteran experience and young talent that takes the course for the University of Notre Dame women’s golf team as the Fighting Irish open their 2015-16 season Saturday and Sunday at the Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Michigan.
Notre Dame will be competing in Michigan State’s annual fall tournament for the seventh time in nine seasons and the 21st time in the event’s 32-year history. The Fighting Irish are the defending tournament champions and have won twice in the past five years, having also claimed the 2010 title. In addition, Notre Dame has placed among the top three teams in five of their previous seven appearances at the Mary Fossum Invitational, dating back to 2008.
Last year, the Fighting Irish carded a score of 913 (+47) to post a four-shot win over Michigan State. Current senior captain (and then-junior) Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy) was the top Notre Dame finisher, teeing off her all-Atlantic Coast Conference campaign with a fourth-place tie at 225 (+9).
Campbell is one of three starters returning for 10th-year head coach Susan Holt, who also welcomes three freshmen to the fold, all of whom were ranked in the top 50 nationally among the incoming Class of 2015. Perhaps in a sign of the strength on this year’s Notre Dame roster, all three rookies will compete at the Mary Fossum Invitational, including two that have cracked the starting lineup, joining the trio of returning veterans who also will get the nod for the Fighting Irish in East Lansing.
“We’re looking forward to getting the season started,” Holt said. “We have three returning players that know this course well. I also look for our freshmen to compete and be ready to go. We had some great qualifying rounds across the board and have had two weeks of good preparation. I’m excited to see what this team can accomplish this season.”
Freshman Isabella DiLisio (Hatfield, Pa./Mount Saint Joseph Academy) was Notre Dame’s top performer during preseason qualifying and earned the No. 1 spot in the lineup this weekend. DiLisio, a member of the 2015 U.S. Junior World Cup Team, was ranked as high as No. 25 in Class of 2015 according to the Golfweek/Sagarin junior rankings and was a Rolex/American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Junior All-America honorable mention selection in 2014. She is coming off a strong final AJGA campaign that saw her post a 74.67 stroke average with four top-10 finishes in six events.
Junior Jordan Ferreira (University Place, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) claimed the second spot in the Fighting Irish lineup this week. She is coming off a career-best 74.56 stroke average last year, which ranked 23rd in the ACC and sixth on the program’s single-season list. Ferreira also was very consistent last year, with all but two of her 30 competitive rounds counting to the team score, and she enters this season with a 75.39 career stroke average, good for fifth-lowest in school history.
Another freshman who will make her college debut at the Mary Fossum Invitational in Maddie Rose Hamilton (Louisville, Ky./Sacred Heart Academy). Like DiLisio, Hamilton built a stellar junior golf resume, capped by her selection to the East Team for the prestigious AJGA Wyndham Cup (she went 1-2-1 in four matches at the event). Hamilton was ranked as high as 15th in this year’s incoming class by the final Golfweek/Sagarin junior rankings and delivered a combined 74.42 stroke average in 40 junior tournaments during her final three seasons (2013-15), collecting 11 wins and 29 top-10 finishes in that span.
Sophomore Kari Bellville (Granger, Ind./Penn) showed flashes of promise throughout her first season at Notre Dame, compiling a 77.37 stroke average while competing in all 10 tournaments for the Fighting Irish. Bellville’s best effort last year came in the ACC Championship, where she tied for 26th place at four-under par 220, helping Notre Dame to a sixth-place team finish. Bellville continued that momentum this summer, qualifying as a first alternate for the 2015 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship with an even-par 72 at the Grosse Ile (Michigan) sectional.
Campbell will serve as the anchor in the Fighting Irish lineup, bringing the second-lowest career stroke average in school history (74.67) into her final campaign under the Golden Dome. One of three Notre Dame golfers ever to post a career mark of better than 75.00, as well as one of three with multiple seasons at 75.00 or lower, Campbell ranked ninth in the ACC last year with 73.43 mark that included two top-five and six top-25 outings in 10 tournaments.
Freshman Emma Albrecht (Ormond Beach, Fla./Father Lopez) will compete as an individual participant this weekend at the Mary Fossum Invitational. Albrecht, who just missed breaking into the starting lineup during preseason qualifying, climbed as high as No. 31 in the Class of 2015 according to the Golfweek/Sagarin junior rankings and registered a 76.69 combined stroke average in 69 junior and amateur tournaments in her four years prior to enrolling at Notre Dame. Along the way, Albrecht earned four junior tournament wins and 36 top-10 finishes, and she qualified as a second alternate for the 2015 U.S. Amateur Championship with an even-par 72 in the Vero Beach (Florida) sectional.
Michigan State will offer live scoring of the Mary Fossum Invitational through the BirdieFire web site (BirdieFire.com), with further live in-progress updates to be provided through the official Notre Dame women’s golf Twitter feed (@NDwomensGolf). In addition, daily recaps on Notre Dame’s progress will be posted on the official Fighting Irish athletics web site (UND.com).
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