Ole Miss Women’s Golf Team Tee’s Off at NCAA Championship

The Ole Miss women’s golf team will head to Arkansas to compete in the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships in Fayetteville beginning on Friday.

It will be the second time in program history, and second time in as many years, the Rebels will compete for the National Championship.

Ole Miss will battle 23 other teams and select individuals at Blessings Golf Club, which will be playing 6,473 yards and par 73.

The Rebels have seen all but three of the teams that will be joining them in Fayetteville, including No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Duke, and SEC foes No. 8 Vanderbilt, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 11 Florida, No. 13 Auburn, and No. 36 Tennessee.

The championship features three rounds of stroke play beginning on Friday before the field is cut from 24 to 15, as well as the top nine individuals on non-advancing teams.

One more round of stroke play will be played on Monday and will be live on Golf Channel.

There, an individual champion will be crowned and the top eight teams will move on to the match play championship.

The match play portion of the championship will also be live on Golf Channel. The quarterfinals and semifinals of match play will take place on Tuesday, while the finals will follow on Wednesday when a team champion will be crowned.

The traveling party remains the same for the sixth straight event. Julia Johnson will be in the No. 1 position, followed by Ellen Hutchinson-Kay, Conner Beth Ball, Kennedy Swann, and Macy Somoskey.

Johnson comes into the Championships leading the Rebels in all major scoring categories including stroke average (72.74) and top-10 finishes (6). The sophomore saved her best round for last at the Norman Regional, shooting an even-par 72 that included going bogey-free over her last 14 holes with a pair of birdies. The sophomore used a big up-and-down on her final hole to keep the Rebels firmly inside the cut line to advance.

Ball joins Johnson as the two Rebels who have National Championship experience playing for Ole Miss. The sophomore finished tied for 31st alongside Johnson in Norman, ending with a near flawless even-par 72 with 16 pars.

Hutchinson-Kay will make her NCAA postseason debut having played in every event in her freshman campaign. The freshman is second on the team in stroke average (74.32) and finished tied for 36th at the Norman Regional, where her first round 1-under 71 was a key contributing score for Ole Miss on the first day.

Swann joins Johnson and Ball as the Rebels who have National Championship experience. The junior transfer from Clemson started on the Tigers team who made it to the 2017 NCAA Golf Championships when she was just a freshman. Swann led the Rebels on the individual leaderboard in Norman, finishing tied for 27th.

Somoskey continued her phenomenal spring season stepping up when needed at the Norman Regional. The freshman turned in a huge contributing score on the final day, shooting an ever-par 72 going bogey-free on her final 10 holes. 

First round is set to begin Friday morning with tee times for the Rebels starting at 8:21 a.m. CT. Ole Miss will be paired with Purdue and San Jose State.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports