NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Fresh off a tie for fifth place at the Westbrook Spring Invitational last month, the Notre Dame women’s golf team resumes its spring slate by hosting the Clover Cup in Mesa, Arizona.
Playing at the Longbow Golf Club (Par 72; 6,184 yards), the first round will be played on Friday, March 15, the second round on Saturday, March 16 and the final round on Sunday, March 17. Teams will go off split tees (No. 1/10) on Friday and Saturday with tee times beginning at 8 a.m. (MT), before finishing with a shotgun start also set for 8 a.m. on Sunday.
“It’s almost like our home away from home,” Fighting Irish senior Isabella DiLisio said. “It’s nice coming back to a familiar place, especially since Emma (Albrecht) and I have played here all four years and we all know the course so well. We’re all excited and feeling good and playing well. We’re excited to try to win our first Clover Cup.”
Notre Dame has hosted the Clover Cup in each of the last seven seasons dating back to 2012, posting a team runner-up finish in the tournament on two occasions (score of 889, 2014; score of 896, 2015). Kristina Nhim owns the best Notre Dame individual result in tournament history, taking home medalist honors by besting 85 other players at the 2014 Clover Cup with a three-round score of 213 (68-72-73=213, -3).
Earlier this spring, the Fighting Irish placed 14th at the Moon Golf Invitational at the Duran Golf Club in Melbourne, Florida in their first event of the semester before notching a tie for fifth place at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Peoria, Arizona.
Sophomore Abby Heck shot a final round, three-under par 69 to place second in the 90-golfer field for her best collegiate finish at the Moon Golf Invitational, while senior Emma Albrecht finished one shot off tying her career best with a score of 208 (70-68-70=208, -8) as a runner-up at the Westbrook Spring Invitational.
The runner-up outing for Albrecht continued the great form for the Fighting Irish senior over the last two years at the Westbrook Village Golf Club Vistas Course. Albrecht previously carded a nine-under par score (70-67-70=207) to place fourth at the 2018 edition of the Westbrook Spring Invitational. Her 207 tied for the lowest 54-hole score in program history, matching Nicole Zhang’s 207 (-9) at the 2010-11 Mary Fossum Invitational.
2019 Clover Cup (hosted by Notre Dame)
Dates: March 15-17, 2019
Format/Tee Times: Play on Friday and Saturday will kick off with split tee times off holes No. 1 and No. 10 beginning at 8 a.m. (MT), while Sunday’s final round is set to feature an 8 a.m. shotgun start
Location: Mesa, Arizona
Course (Par/Yardage): Longbow Golf Club; Par 72; 6,184 yards
The Field (15): Notre Dame (host), Cincinnati, FIU, Houston, IUPUI, Kansas State, Kentucky, Mercer, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, UNCG, USC, Western Carolina and Wisconsin
Notre Dame Lineup: Emma Albrecht (1), Claire Albrecht (2), Abby Heck (3), Mia Ayer (4) and Isabella DiLisio (5)
Live Scoring: birdiefire.com
Twitter: @NDwomensGolf
Career Best Rounds (most recent occurrence listed)
• Emma Albrecht: 67 (third round of the 2018 NCAA Madison Regional at the University Ridge Golf Course)
• Isabella DiLisio: 67 (second round of the 2017 Schooner Fall Classic at the Belmar Golf Club)
• Maddie Rose Hamilton: 65 (second round of the 2017 Schooner Fall Classic at the Belmar Golf Club)
• Mia Ayer: 71 (third round of the 2018 Schooner Fall Classic at the Belmar Golf Club)
• Abby Heck: 68 (first round of the 2019 Moon Golf Invitational)
• Claire Albrecht: 72 (third round of the 2018 Minnesota Invitational at the Prestwick Golf Club)
Irish Pick Up First Team Top-Five Finish Of 2019
• Notre Dame equaled its best team finish of the 2018-19 campaign by tying for fifth place at the Westbrook Spring Invitational on Feb. 24-25 at the Westbrook Village Golf Club Vistas Course in Peoria, Arizona.
• Emma Albrecht fired three straight rounds under par for the Fighting Irish that featured a four-under-par 68 in round two, ultimately carrying the Notre Dame senior to a share of second place with a three-round score of 208 (70-68-70, -8).
• The runner-up result for Albrecht was her fifth top-25 finish in six starts thus far in 2019, and her second top-five placement (tied for fourth at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational last October). Albrecht is Notre Dame’s active leader with eight career top-10 finishes, including four tournaments within the final top five.
Rounds In The 60s Fuel The Irish Lineup
• Exactly half of Notre Dame’s 16 under-par rounds as a team thus far in the 2018-19 season have been individual 18-hole scores registering in the 60s.
• Three different Fighting Irish players have shot eight sub-70 rounds over three different tournaments for Notre Dame this year. Sophomore Abby Heck has fashioned four of her five under-par scores within the 60s thus far, while senior Emma Albrecht has chipped in three rounds under 70. Senior Isabella DiLisio also carded a final-round 69 at the Schooner Fall Classic last September.
Making The Grade
• The women’s golf team posted Notre Dame’s top team GPA for the 2018 fall semester with an impressive 3.652 mark.
The 2018 Fall Schedule At A Glance
• During the fall, the Fighting Irish competed in the Minnesota Invitational (Sept. 10-11), the Schooner Fall Classic (Sept. 28-30), the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational (Oct. 5-7) and the Landfall Tradition (Oct. 5-7).
• At the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational, senior Emma Albrecht tied for fourth and the team finished fifth.
• At the Schooner Fall Classic, Notre Dame shot a final-round six-under par 278.
Notre Dame Under Coach Holt
• Head coach Susan Holt has led Notre Dame to 10 NCAA Regional appearances in the last 11 seasons, including the first NCAA Championship berth in program history (2011), while lowering the team’s season stroke average by more than 10 strokes since she arrived in 2006.
• Holt has piloted Notre Dame to four conference titles, 17 total tournament championships and the top 12 single-season stroke averages in the program’s record book, all while guiding Fighting Irish players to 15 medalist honors and 27 all-conference accolades as well as the first two All-America selections in Notre Dame women’s golf history.
• In the classroom, Fighting Irish players under Holt have collected 31 NGCA/WGCA All-Scholar Team citations, 44 conference all-academic team certificates and the first three Academic All-America honors in program history (Ashley Armstrong in 2013, 2014 and 2015).
Becca Huffer Makes Notre Dame History, Heads To LPGA Tour
• Becca Huffer (’12) became the first University of Notre Dame women’s golfer to become an LPGA Tour member when she earned her tour card last fall (Nov. 3).
• Huffer, a former Irish captain and two-time team MVP, earned her LPGA Tour Card after finishing in 10th place at the LPGA Q-Series at Pinehurst Course in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
• In its inaugural season, the Q-Series consisted of eight rounds over two, four-day tournaments with the top 45 finishers earning LPGA membership.
• Huffer carded a three-under-par (77-76-70-70-68-72-67-73=573), dipping under par 72 in four of eight rounds.
• Huffer then made her LPGA Tour debut at the ISPS Handa Vic Open in Victoria, Australia (Feb. 7).
• A four-time monogram winner, Huffer previously played on the Symetra Tour since 2013, where she recorded 10 career top-10 finishes, including three in 2018.
Future Irish
• Head coach Susan Holt has announced the 2019-20 incoming class of Lauren Beaudreau, Madelyn Jones and Jessica Meyers — a top-50 national recruiting class.
• Beaudreau, who hails from Lemont, Illinois, currently attends Benet Academy in Lisle, Illinois.
• Jones, who is an Austin, Texas, native, is in her senior year at Westlake High School.
• Meyers, who hails from Wexford, Pennsylvania, attends Oakland Catholic High School in Pittsburgh.
The 2017-18 Year In Review
• The Irish returned to NCAA Regional play (Madison) and set the program record for lowest season stroke average (293.50).
• Notre Dame posted top-five finishes at the Minnesota Invitational and the Clover Cup, while winning the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational for their first tournament win in two years.
• The Irish also had a strong showing at the Schooner Fall Classic, finishing tied for sixth on the strength of a final round 278 (-6).
• Emma Albrecht earned co-medalist honors at the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational.
• Maddie Rose Hamilton set the program record by shooting a second-round 65 (-6) at the event. The -6 also tied for the lowest round in program history in relation to par.