Ole Miss Women’s Golf Advances to NCAA Championships for Fourth Time in Program History

For the fourth time in program history, Ole Miss women’s golf has punched its ticket to the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship after earning a fourth place finish in the Athens Regional on Wednesday.

Entering the day in a three-way tie for the fifth and final spot that advances, the Rebels rolled up their sleeves and shot their best round of the week in Athens with a 290 (+2) to finish 17-over par over the tournament’s three rounds, jumping up into fourth place.

“The fight we had on that back nine today was incredible,” head coach Kory Henkes said. “They like to be the back nine team, so they really brought it when we needed it the most because it was a pretty slow start for us to be honest. I’m so proud of the fight they had today.”

The Ole Miss lineup ended up tallying 14 total birdies in Wednesday’s final round of action, the most for the Rebel team in a single round this week. The team would ultimately finish with 38 total birdies while in Athens, ranking fourth amongst those in attendance.

Chiara Tamburlini paced the Rebels all week long, finishing in a team-best seventh place after shooting a 214 (-2) over the three rounds of action in Athens. It was ultimately the par-5’s that Tamburlini took advantage of, with the senior leading the field in par-5 scoring (-8) alongside logging the second-most birdies (14) of any golfer in attendance.

“I’ll have to take some final exams in the next few days, plus I have graduation coming up,” Tamburlini said. “Other than that, I’m just going to try to do some competitive practice and just keep doing what we’re doing. Everybody’s playing very well, so we’ll just sharpen a few things and be ready to go.”

Sweden native Andrea Lignell saved her and the team’s best individual round for day three, as Lignell blazed the UGA Golf Course on Wednesday en route to carding a 69 (-3) to leap up into a tie for 11th place. Lignell was a force to be reckoned with, tallying three birdies in her bogey-free final round to help the Rebels earn their spot in the NCAA Championships.

In her first taste of NCAA Regional action, freshman Nicole Gal ended up supplying the Rebels with counting scores for all three rounds of action in Georgia, including a third round score of 74 (+2) to wrap up her tournament. Gal earned a share of 33rd place for her efforts this week, marking the highest finish for a Rebel freshman at NCAA Regionals since Julia Johnson and Conner Beth Ball in 2018.

Senior Ellen Hume got her first taste of tournament action this week after tapping in for Elle Johnson in the Rebel lineup for round three. Despite having not played all week, the Whitwell, England, native delivered a crucial counting score of 74 (+2) for the Rebels.

Natacha Host Husted rounded out the Rebel lineup with a three-day total of 232 (+16), earning her a tie for 47th.

The NCAA Women’s Golf Championship is scheduled to run May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Golf Channel coverage of the final round of stroke play, as well as each match play fixture, will be provided May 22-24.

“We’ve had some good success out there, so a little knowledge of the course is helpful,” Henkes said. “Most of the girls on our team have played there, so we’re just looking forward to getting back out there. The girls really like the vibe of Scottsdale.”

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports