The University of Mississippi Athletics
From the Tee Box at the 2016 SEC Championships
4/17/2016 | Athletics, Blog
As the Ole Miss women's golf team tees it upthis weekend at the 2016 SEC Championships at Greystone Golf and Country Clubin Birmingham, OleMissSports.com tagged along to record some of thebehind-the-scenes action and each day will bring five observations from theround.
Round Three - Sunday, April 17, 2016
1. How About Those Rebels
Ole Missposted its best finish at the SEC Championship in six years with a three-round score of 894(301-300-293 - 894) good for a seventh-place finish, which is the best finishsince 2010 and is tied for the third-best finish at the SEC Championship inprogram history. Ole Miss' best finish was in 1999 when the Rebels took thirdplace. Additionally, senior AlisonHovatter (Meridianville, Ala.) tied for ninth place, which is the highestindividual finish since former Ole Miss women's golfer Sara Grantham tied forfifth in 2010.
2. First Year of Henkes Era In The Books
Ole Misshead coach Kory Henkes has been onthe job for exactly 300 days and in that time span the Ole Miss women's golfteam has posted six top-10 finishes, taken runner up honors at the 2016 RebelIntercollegiate and posted a seventh-place finish - tied for third best finishin program history - at the always tough SEC Championship and set 10 new team and/or individual records.รย รย Not too shabby for your first 300 days on the job coach, not too shabby.
3. Throw The Rankings Out The Window
Ole Miss came into the championships ranked No. 107 and the lowest ranked teamin the SEC, but when it was all said and done Ole Miss finished ahead of top 50programs Tennessee (26), Missouri (31), Vanderbilt (35) and LSU (58).Additionally, the Rebels seventh-place finish was 20 strokes ahead of instaterival Mississippi State who closed the championships in 12th place.
4. Flori Saves Best For SEC Championship
The future is quite bright if the play of freshman Martina Flori (Montecatini Terme, Italy) thisweekend is any indication. She posted her three-best rounds of collegiate golfthis weekend with a new career low for 18 holes on Friday with a 73 and acareer-best 54-hole score of 222. Flori, along with her teammates, saved theirvery best for last as Ole Miss posted its two best tournaments of the spring atthe Rebel Intercollegiate (2ndPlace - 888) and SEC Championship (7th place - 894).
5. Final Round Attire
Ole Miss wore white skirts and navy tops for today's final round with redpullovers and red hats to round out the outfits. Ole Miss definitely had theoutfits on lock this weekend in pure Ole Miss fashion #WAOM
Additional Tidbits:
TV Time: The Ole Miss women's golf team likes television whether it's athree hour dancing show from her native Italy for Martina Flori or numerous episodes of Vampire Diaries for Maria Toennessen and Abby Newton, these gals like theirshows!
End of One Chapter, Beginning of Another: The SEC Championships marked the end of theOle Miss careers of Abby Newton(Katy, Texas), Alison Hovatter(Meridianville, Ala.) and Katie Voll(Alpharetta, Ga.). This group of young women have been stellar student-athletesboth on and off the course and have left Ole Miss women's golf in a much betterplace! Additionally senior Ole Miss senior media relations employee Connor Hennessey, who has served as thewomen's golf contact for the last three year, also worked his final event thisweekendรย #ThankYouSeniorsรย
Birdie Machine: Junior MariaToennessen (Grimstad, Norway) was a birdie machine during the final round.She posted a team-best six birdies on the round and had eight on the weekend tolead the Rebels but no worries no birds were hurt during this weekend'schampionship.
Flori Loves Rory: If you ask Martina Flori who her favorite golfer is, it's RoryMcIlroy. In fact, she knows his girlfriend, siblings and numerous other tidbitsabout his life. She's not a stalker though (just in case you are reading this Rory) just a super fan!
