Oct. 23, 2014
Landfall Tradition
Dates: Oct. 24-26, 2014
Format: 54 holes (18 holes each day)
Tee Times: Split-tee starts first two days (beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET Friday/Saturday), shotgun start final day (8:45 a.m. ET Sunday)
Location: Wilmington, N.C.
Course (Par/Yardage): Country Club of Landfall – Pete Dye Course (par 72/6,159 yards)
Tournament Field (current Golfstat ranking): Alabama (38), Arizona (9), Duke (4), Florida (57), Michigan State (69), North Carolina (52), North Carolina State (16), Notre Dame (48), Ohio State (21), Oklahoma State (15), Penn State (106), Purdue (44), South Carolina (1), Tennessee (14), UCF (19), UNC Wilmington (115), Virginia (18) and Wake Forest (11).
Notre Dame Lineup (2014-15 stroke average): Jordan Ferreira (74.67), Talia Campbell (73.33), Ashley Armstrong (74.67), Kari Bellville (76.22), Kelli Oride (76.22).
Live Scoring: www.golfstat.com
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Earlier this week, somewhere in the Great Smoky Mountains, it happened–the University of Notre Dame women’s golf team left behind the bitter taste of disappointment from last weekend’s 10th-place finish at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Knoxville, Tennessee.
With a clean slate and fresh optimism, the Fighting Irish will look to rebound this weekend and close out their fall schedule on a high note when they take part in the Landfall Tradition, which will be played on the Pete Dye Course (par 72/6,159 yards) at the Country Club of Landfall, just steps from the Intracoastal Waterway in Wilmington, North Carolina.
“This is a great golf course that four of our five (in the lineup) have played and coming straight here from Tennessee worked out great as the courses and grass are similar between the two places,” Notre Dame head coach Susan Holt said. “With it being fall break for us at Notre Dame, it didn’t make much sense to go all the way back to South Bend since we were already halfway here (in Wilmington). We have had great weather here all week, so being able to get some good practice time in has been great.”
Notre Dame is 48th in this week’s Golfstat rankings and is aiming to return to the form that saw the Fighting Irish win the season-opening Mary Fossum Invitational at Michigan State and turn in a strong upper-division (eighth-place) finish at Oklahoma’s Schooner Fall Classic. The latter tournament also saw Notre Dame post the lowest 54-hole gross score in school history (846), closing with the two lowest gross scoring rounds in program annals (277 and 279).
However, the Fighting Irish didn’t find quite the same success last week at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, see flashes of promise but ultimately never quite putting the pieces together against a talented field while carding a 59-over par 911. Still, Notre Dame earned its third top-10 finish in as many tournaments this season and knows that, even with its struggles in Knoxville, the potential remains for a strong close to the fall campaign.
One indication of Notre Dame’s forward momentum entering this week’s tournament is the play of sophomore Jordan Ferreira (University Place, Wash./Bellarmine Prep), who is coming off a team-best 26th-place tie at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, firing a 12-over par 225. It was Ferreira’s first team-leading finish in a year, and the third of career, and it could be a sign of things to come for the second-year Fighting Irish standout, who played well in her closing two rounds at last year’s Landfall Tradition (combined +4, including a final-round 73) and currently is tied for second on the team with a 74.67 stroke average.
“Jordan had a good showing in Tennessee and just needs to be patient this week and keep things simple relative to her golf swing and she should be fine,” Holt said.
Junior Talia Campbell (Dallas, Texas/Ursuline Academy) has been Notre Dame’s anchor during the 2014 fall season with a team-best 73.33 stroke average. Campbell finished in the top 15 at her first two tournaments and was poised for a third last week in Knoxville before a final-round 80 dropped her to a tie for 32nd place at 13-over par 226. It was a rare hiccup for Campbell, who has shot rounds of 74 or lower six of nine times this fall, including rounds of 66 and 69 at the Schooner Fall Classic.
Senior captain Ashley Armstrong (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor), who tied for 16th place at last year’s Landfall Tradition with an eight-over par 224, freshman Kari Bellville (Granger, Ind./Penn) and senior Kelli Oride (Lihue, Hawaii/Kauai) make up the rest of this week’s Fighting Irish lineup.
“We had three good days of practice here in Wilmington,” Holt said. “Ashley has really put in quality time and is hitting the ball much better. Talia also seems to be back on track and we’re hoping she can return back to form after that tough final round at Tennessee.”
Notre Dame is playing in the Landfall Tradition for the fifth consecutive season, having placed in the top 10 at the tournament three times. The Fighting Irish finished fifth in 2012 during a rain-shortened 18-hole event and took sixth-place honors at their inaugural Landfall Tradition appearance in 2010. Last year, Notre Dame ended in a tie for 11th place with North Carolina and Ohio State at 924 (+60).
This weekend’s tournament field will be the strongest Notre Dame has faced this season, and perhaps the most powerful group it will see all year. More than half (10) of the schools in the 18-team field appear in the top 25 of this week’s Golfstat rankings, including No. 1 South Carolina, defending NCAA champion (and fourth-ranked) Duke and No. 9 Arizona.
“This weekend’s tournament gives us a chance to rebound quickly from a poor showing in Tennessee and pick up some quality wins against many top 25 teams,” Holt said. “It’s one of the top events every year–the golf course is excellent and the support of the Landfall community is outstanding. We also have an alumni event with the Notre Dame Club of Wilmington, which is always a great time and we look forward to seeing them every year.”
UNC Wilmington will offer live scoring of the Landfall Tradition through the Golfstat web site (www.golfstat.com), while daily recaps on Notre Dame’s progress will be posted on the official Fighting Irish athletics web site (www.UND.com).
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.
— Chris Masters, Associate Athletic Media Relations Director