Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ND Sports 6-under-par scores, three strokes ahead of the rest of the field. "We certainly expected them to come in and play well. I'm not that surprised," Holt said. "I thought it was great that they were able to be coBig East medalists. I thought that was pretty neat how that worked out for them. It was certainly well deserved." The rookies' early success didn't catch Holt or any of their teammates off guard. Weaver came to Notre Dame from Scottsdale, Ariz., as the No. 3-ranked golfer in the country, according to American Junior Golf Association. Campbell, a Dallas native, was ranked seventh. Together they gave the Irish the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, with Notre Dame the only team to land two top‑10 players. Campbell and Weaver both honed their games in cities where year-round golf is a given. Campbell said it takes a couple of holes to get used to hitting off of real grass during most tournaments, but the possibility of teeing off into a net or simulator screen more than six months of the year didn't keep either of them from wanting to come to South Bend. "I looked at a bunch of different schools, but Notre Dame was just where I wanted to be," Campbell said. "I didn't care about the weather much. It was more about the coaches, the school and all of that. Notre Dame was the perfect fit for me." When Holt left the Tampa campus of the University of South Florida seven years ago to come to Notre Dame, her friends in the coaching world thought she was crazy. She saw enough poten- tial in South Bend to outweigh the obvious drawbacks. Warren Golf Course, when it is playable, is ranked as one of the top 10 collegiate courses in the country. The fact that it's a pitching wedge away from the rest of campus is another luxury and selling point that many other programs don't have. The indoor facilities make practicing yearround manageable. Holt said she knew those benefits on top of the academic side of what Notre Dame has to offer would be enough to help attract top talent. So far, she has been right. All five scholarship golfers on her roster were ranked in the top 50 of the AJGA list when they came to Notre Dame. She'll add another in No. 47 Jordan Ferreira from University Place, Wash., next fall. "We try to restock the cupboards each year," Holt said. "It's not a hard sell for us. It really isn't." Campbell said she had a long list of places where she could have gone, but Notre Dame has been her dream school for most of her life. She fit in quickly on campus and on the links with four top‑10 finishes in seven tournaments this spring. That includes the first-place tie at the Big East Championship while she was battling a bout of mononucleosis. She didn't practice for most of the month of April to save up strength and still managed to finish second on the team in the NCAA East Regional, as well. "I'm not sure how it happened, but I'll take it," she said. "I guess the summer break will be full of recovery and try to get all my power back and get my