2-time state high school champ Maddy Bante matches college-best showing as Notre Dame freshman places fifth following 8-birdie day
By Gary Baines 3/12/2025
In less than a year, Maddy Bante may have gone from Class 3A — the small-school classification for girls high school golf in Colorado — to NCAA Division I, but you’d never know it by how the St. Mary’s Academy graduate is performing as a college freshman.
The two-time 3A state high school individual champion not only earned a spot on the roster at Notre Dame, but she’s made the Irish’s travel team for seven of the eight tournaments this season as a freshman.
And, taking it another level, Bante has recorded two top-5 individual finishes so far as a collegian. The latest of those came on Wednesday when she placed a college career-best-tying fifth out of 66 players at the Notre Dame-hosted Clover Cup in Litchfield Park, Ariz.
Bante, a runner-up in the CGA Women’s Stroke Play last year, made eight birdies in Wednesday’s final round and shot a 2-under 68 despite two double bogeys on par-3s. Overall, she posted scores of 68-70-68, ending up four strokes behind champion Melena Barrientos of Clemson. Bante shared the lead roughly midway through the final round.
Bante’s previous best individual showing in her freshman year was a fifth place at the Evie Odom Invitational in early October.
Also posting a top-10 finish at the Clover Cup was Colorado State’s Kara Kaneshiro, who tied for 10th place at 1 over par overall (68-75-68). It was her fourth top-10 showing of the season. CSU finished sixth out of 12 schools in the team standings.
For all the scores from the Clover Cup, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com