The Ole Miss Women’s Golf team will travel to Highlands Ranch, Colorado, this weekend to compete in the Ron Moore Women’s Intercollegiate at the Highlands Ranch Golf Course from Oct. 5-7.
Ole Miss will join 15 other schools at the event, including the University of Denver, Washington State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Colorado State and Kansas, among many other solid programs. The 2017 Ron Moore Intercollegiate Champion, New Mexico, is not in this year’s field.
Julia Johnson surveys the ball in flight during the 2018 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship practice round in May. Photo courtesy: Bruce Waterfield/Oklahoma State Athletics
The Rebels are coming off a T9-place finish at the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate in Knoxville. Ole Miss started slow but used a solid final round to jump up the leaderboard. The Rebels tied Kent State for the lowest final-round score, with a 283. Julia Johnson led Ole Miss with a three round total of 219(+6) to finish T12, individually. Ellen Hutchinson-Kay shot a 222(+9) to finish T23. Conner Beth Ball finished with a 225(+12) to place T38. Kie Purdom also cracked the top 50, with a 225(+12) to place T38.
After one event, Johnson leads the Rebels with a stroke average of 73. Hutchinson-Kay isn’t far behind, with an average of 74, followed by Ball and Purdom, who each have an average of 75. Three of Ole Miss’ top four performers from the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate are underclassmen, with Kie Perdom being the sole upperclassman to finish in the top 50 at the event.
The Ron Moore Intercollegiate will mark the beginning of four straight weeks of competition for the Rebels. Following its trip to Colorado, Ole Miss will host the Magnolia Invitational from Oct. 14-16 in West Point at the Old Waverly Golf Club.
After the Magnolia Invitational, the Rebels will get back on the road, traveling to Louisville, Kentucky, to compete in the Cardinal Cup from Oct. 20-21 at the University of Louisville Golf Course. Ole Miss wraps up its fall schedule in Texas with the Jim West Challenge from Oct. 28-29 at Kissing Tree Golf Club in San Marcos, Texas. Ole Miss will then be off for the winter, resuming play for the late winter/spring portion of the season on Feb. 25.
