Women’s Golf Finishes Strong, Finds Third Place Finish

By Jane Rob Pannell

The Daily Mississippian

Following an iconic 2021 season as National Champions for the first time in school history, the Ole Miss Women’s Golf team is already off to a hot start in 2022. The Rebels secured a third place finish in their spring season opener at the Rapsodo in the Desert tournament in Superstition Mountain, Arizona. Ole Miss finished the first day of the tournament in fifth place on the leaderboard, but a team total of nine birdies in the final four holes of the last day pushed the Rebels to a bronze medal finish. 

The Rebels were led by junior Andrea Lignell with a respectable 71 (-1) on day one followed by an impressive 68 (-4) on the final day, placing third individually and tallying tournament-highs in both second round birdies (7) along with total birdies (12). Alongside Lignell was another top-five finisher for the Rebels, junior Chiara Tamburlini, who opened the tournament with a stellar 68 (-4) and wrapped up with a 73 (+1) to give her a tie for the fifth place individual finish. This marks the second consecutive tournament that the Lignell-Tamburlini duo have both come out with top-5 finishes. 

Senior Julia Johnson assisted to the Rebels third place finish as well, shooting a 74 (+2) on day one followed by a 72 (E), due to a pair of clutch birdies on her final two holes, putting her tied for 17th individually. Senior Ellen Hume (76-72-148) and freshman McKinley Cunningham (78-77-155) also helped the Rebels with the late push by finishing their final rounds with birdies.  Freshman Natasha Host Husted (75-74-149) competed as an individual in the spring opener and secured a 30th place finish. 

Ole Miss came home with the bronze medal behind Arizona State (278-280–558) and Oklahoma State (281-282–56). The Rebels will tee up next in Athens, Georgia, for the Lady Bulldog Invitational on Jan. 29 and 30.