The Ole Miss women’s golf team dominated the competition and finished first in the Golfweek Conference Challenge over the course of three days at the Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, Colorado.
The Rebels shot a total score of 849 over three rounds to go 15-under par, which was 8 strokes ahead of second-place Pepperdine.
“Today was a great day for our program,” head coach Kory Henkes said after the final round. “The team played fantastic golf this week and the results showed. It was an all-around team effort the three days. I was proud of their ability to bounce back today after a rocky start to post a great round to cap off the win.”
The Rebels continued their excellent play out west after finishing in third place two weeks ago in New Mexico. They hopped out to an early lead on the first day of competition with a 7-under par score of 281, which only Pepperdine kept pace with.
Freshman Andrea Lignell led the way on the first day with a 3-under par 69, but the key to the Rebels’ performance was their depth. Junior Julia Johnson and Senior Pi-Lillebi Hermansson were right behind Lignell all day as both finished their first rounds with scores of 70.
The second day of competition would go even better for Lignell and Hermansson. The two Swedish Rebels improved upon their first round scores by two strokes to finish the day at 5-under for Lignell and 4-under for Hermansson. At the end of the second day, the Rebels led by 12 shots, and Lignell held possession of first place.
“We played really smart golf today. Our course management couldn’t have been better,” head coach Kory Henkes said about the second day of play. “The pins today were very tight and we hit it in the right spots for birdie opportunities.”
While the third round for Ole Miss didn’t go as smoothly as the first two, they still shot even on the day to maintain their lead. Senior Kennedy Swann led the way on the final day as she caught fire and shot a 4-under 68 to keep the Rebels’ lead comfortable down the home stretch.
The Rebels’ steady play was their key to victory as they finished third in total pars and third in total birdies during the tournament. They also had the lowest average score on Par 4s, averaging 4.05 strokes per Par 4 and shooting an overall 8-over par for the tournament on those holes.
Ole Miss continues their fall schedule two weeks from now with a trip to Chicago to compete in the Illini Women’s Invitational in Medinah, Illinois, on October 7 and 8.
