BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Despite facing a 10-stroke deficit heading into the team’s back nine of the day, the Ole Miss women’s golf team pulled off an unbelievable comeback at the 2023 SEC Championship to help the team qualify for SEC Match Play Quarterfinals.
Fueled by the team’s best round of the tournament with a 290 (+2) on Friday, the Rebels clawed their way up the leaderboard in dramatic fashion to snag the final spot in Saturday’s Match Play Quarterfinals. All five Rebel golfers would finish par or better on their back nines, helping the team finish second in the field in total birdies on the week with 41.
“We knew we needed five or six birdies on the back nine to have a chance,” head coach Kory Henkes said. “It was just incredible, especially from our freshman Nicole coming out hot right out of the gate and shooting a 73. Everyone did their part and I’m just really proud of the entire team for their effort today.”
The senior tandem of Chiara Tamburlini and Andrea Lignell helped lead the charge for Ole Miss, as the duo would ultimately finish with three-day scores of 220 (+4) and 221 (+5) to finish 12th and 13th overall, respectively.
This marks a new career-best finish for Lignell at the SEC Championship, having bested her previous year’s finish of 34th in 2022. Lignell’s day three round of 71 (-1) marked the best of all five Ole Miss golfers.
“We honestly started off pretty bad and found ourselves down 10 strokes heading into the back,” Lignell said. “I honestly just love how much we fought in that back nine to be able to finish like that. That gives us a lot of momentum heading into match play.”
Tamburlini, on the other hand, has now finished in the Top 20 in back-to-back SEC Championships having earned a share of ninth in last year’s tournament. The St. Gallen, Switzerland, native is playing in what will be her final SEC Tournament with the Rebels, as she plans on going pro at the conclusion of this season.
“It was such an awesome run that we had today on our back nine,” Tamburlini said. “The whole team just did such a great job and I just know that each and every one of us always believed that it could be done every step of the way. I…
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