“It’s about time,” thought competitors and event organizers of the Landfall Tradition golf tournament throughout the weekend of nearly 80-degree sunny conditions.
In the recent past, the annual women’s collegiate golf tournament has played in a variety of less-than-favorable conditions, including frosty temperatures and Superstorm Sandy.
“I thought it was an incredible weekend, not only with the weather, which really lent itself to favorable scoring, but a lot of people coming out to watch,” said Cindy Ho, University of North Carolina Wilmington head golf coach. “It was perfect and probably one of the best weekends we have had in the 13 years of the tournament.”
The Wake Forest women’s golf team’s play was as consistent as the weather. The team shot a combined final score of even par for the whole tournament to win the school’s third Landfall Tradition tournament. The University of Alabama, 2013 Landfall Tradition champions, finished second with a final total team score +4. The University of Notre Dame and the University of South Carolina tied for third place at +7.
After the first day of competition Friday, Oct. 24, Alabama head coach Mic Potter said he was happy his team was in contention and he is always happy to come to a tournament at Landfall’s Dye Course.
“The course is there for you today; you can shoot some low scores,” Potter said. “We told the tournament organizers that whenever it is on this course we are probably going to come because we love the course, we love Wilmington and the best national championship we have ever been to was here.”
Landfall Tradition tournament co-chair Tim Meeker said the atmosphere around the tournament is what makes it special and allows it to draw such a strong field every year.
“You talk to the teams and they will tell you this is one of the best, if not the best tournament they go to in the country,” Meeker said. “A lot of it is the course but a lot of it is we have had a great volunteer base … and the spectators they get out here. Coaches say that is one of the things that makes the young ladies feel like they are really in a pro tour event.”
Host team UNCW finished the tournament 16th but Ho said her team gained some needed confidence after rebounding from a rough start on day one.
“I chose to play with Alabama on purpose because they were the 2012 national champions and I wanted them to feel what it was like to play with a national champion,” Ho said. “That first day we played a little scared and did not handle the pressure and execute as well as I knew we are able to. But the second day I just had to tell them to own their confidence and their game, and they had to believe they belong in that setting.”
In addition to the invaluable experience of playing against many of the top-ranked women’s golf teams in the country, the Landfall Tradition also serves the UNCW team by contributing to its funding every year. Since the inaugural event, the tournament has raised more than $250,000 for the UNCW golf program.
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