Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 9, 2021 49 ND SPORTS BY TODD D. BURLAGE A nytime a coach describes a player's practice or work ethic as "flat," that certainly doesn't scream of glowing endorsement. But when Notre Dame women's golf coach Susan Holt was asked about her ju- nior standout Lauren Beaudreau, she used "flat" as a perfect term of endearment. Holt explained that in a sport that re- quires consistency and stability more than any other, Beaudreau provides plenty of both. "I never know how Lauren is play- ing during a round, and I don't think that's a bad thing," Holt said. "She's just so steady working through every round and every shot." Beaudreau — a Chicagoland native and the Illinois high school individual state champion out of Benet Academy in the spring of 2019 — is living an in- teresting and eventful golf career at Notre Dame since arriving as a fresh- man in the fall that same year. Playing as only the No. 4 player in Notre Dame's five-woman lineup, Be- audreau concedes that her on-course results as a first-semester freshman fell short of expectations. But in February 2020, Beaudreau of- ficially arrived when she opened her spring season with a record-setting 206 (-10) at the Westbrook Spring In- vitational. Her 54-hole score remains the best in Notre Dame program history (based on both stroke total and relation to par). "I felt like I was playing some of the best golf I have ever played," Beaudreau recalled. Ah, but Beaudreau's life and routine seismically changed a month later when COVID-19 canceled the rest of her 2020 spring season and all of her 2020 fall season when she was a first-semester sophomore. Beaudreau's record-setting perfor- mance became the only Notre Dame score she posted during the 2020 cal- endar year. "I was very disappointed because I was hitting the ball so well," she said. "I just wanted to keep going," With campus closed and classes held online from March through August 2020, Beaudreau spent much of her time in Florida, training far away from coaches and teammates. Upon her return to South Bend — even while knowing that the 2020 fall season would likely be canceled as the pandemic lingered — Beaudreau arrived ready to lead and score low. And Holt expected nothing otherwise. "She's what every coach hopes to have on their team, which is a pretty steady rock of a player," Holt said. "And in doing so, Lauren continues to get better. Her bad rounds aren't so bad, and her good rounds are better." Beaudreau admitted to suffering some shaken confidence after struggling through her first collegiate season as a freshman newbie. But with confidence built from her program-record 10-under tournament score, then winning a place in the round of 16 at the 2020 U.S. Women's Ama- teur and making the quarterfinal round of the prestigious 2020 North & South Women's Amateur that same summer, Beaudreau remains hopeful and excited about her LPGA aspirations. "Having some success at this level has definitely increased my confidence as a player," said Beaudreau, who in April added another career feather with her first individual collegiate tourney title at the 2021 Indiana State Spring Invite. "A very special round and moment," noted Beaudreau, who is rated by WAGR as the world's 300th top amateur. "I had been dreaming about that for a long time." Sporting a long list of career achieve- ments already, Beaudreau isn't remiss to put her recent hole-outs for eagle in consecutive tournaments among her career highlights. "That was really exciting," she said, "kind of unbelievable it happened." And when Beaudreau isn't hunt- ing eagles and birdies, she's studying sports marketing in the hopes that, after a successful LPGA career, she'll per- haps someday become a broadcast golf analyst. "Notre Dame has shaped me to be better as an individual," said Beaudreau, a regular member of the annual ACC All-Academic team. "It will help me with my journey in life." ✦ Consistency Is Driving Golfer Lauren Beaudreau Beaudreau, a junior, set the Notre Dame pro- gram record with a 54-hole score of 206 (10 under par) at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in February 2020. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS Irish Roundup CROSS COUNTRY Notre Dame hosted the Joe Piane Invita- tional Oct. 1 in South Bend. MEN'S GOLF The Fighting Irish carded a 10-under-par 842 to finish first at the Windon Invitational Sept. 27-28 in Chicago. MEN'S SOCCER (4-4-1 OVERALL, 1-1-1 ACC) Notre Dame suffered a 2-1 loss in overtime at Virginia Tech Sept. 24 … The Irish bounced back to defeat Trine 13-0 at home Sept. 28. WOMEN'S SOCCER (9-1-1 OVERALL, 3-0-0 ACC) The No. 22-ranked Fighting Irish notched their fifth consecutive victory with a 4-1 tri- umph over Boston College Sept. 26 in South Bend … Notre Dame has outscored the opposi- tion 24-2 during its winning streak. VOLLEYBALL (3-9 OVERALL, 0-2 ACC) Notre Dame opened ACC play by dropping a pair of home matches, falling 3-1 to Florida State Sept. 24 and 3-0 to Miami Sept. 26. — Steve Downey