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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Rounds 1 & 2
Ole Miss in First Place After Two Rounds in Kiawah
9/4/2017 | Women's Golf
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. - The Ole Miss women's golf team is just one day into its 2017-18 season, and already the Rebels are 18 holes away from their first team tournament victory since 2008.
The Rebels stand in sole possession of first place after shooting even par (292-292--584) through the first two rounds of The Ocean Course Invitational. Freshman Conner Beth Ball (-6) led the way with a spectacular collegiate debut during the 36-hole opening day at Kiawah Island Golf Resort's Ocean Course, but all four of the team's top performers had moments of brilliance on Day 1.
Sophomore Pi-Lillebi Hermansson and freshman Julia Johnson each shot 2-under to lead the Rebels in Round 2 and both earned spots in the top 15 going into the final day. Junior Kie Purdom matched her career-low (73) in Round 1 and racked up a tournament-best 29 pars on the day.
"We played solidly as a team today," said head coach Kory Henkes. "We had a game plan going into the tournament and the team really stuck to it. We are proud of everyone for their attitude and efforts. Our freshmen, Conner Beth and Julia, were impressive and came out of the gate strong. Pi and Julia had a nice bounce-back round, and Kie posted one of her top collegiate rounds this morning as well."
Ball, a Madison, Mississippi native, shot 5-under in Round 1 to hold possession of first place through 18 holes. The U.S. Women's Amateur qualifier went 1-under in Round 2 and sits in third on the individual leaderboard. She tallied 11 birdies on the day, including seven in the first round. She was just edged on the individual leaderboard by Jennifer Kupcho (-9) of Wake Forest and Aubree Jones (-7) of Mississippi State.
"Conner Beth had a terrific collegiate debut," Henkes said. "She played confident golf and really kept a great attitude all day. She thrives on competition and it showed today with her performance."
The Rebels totaled more pars (119) than any other team through 36 holes, but they'll have their work cut out for them holding off a talented field in the final round. Ole Miss must fend off six teams that finished last season 31st or better in the Golfweek rankings, including No. 5 Florida and No. 6 Florida State.
"We had a quick team meeting after the round and talked about sticking with our game plan and making good decisions once again," Henkes said. "We have really worked hard on committing to the small things this year. This course is challenging and mentally demanding so being committed to good decisions is the key to great golf out here."
Ole Miss will tee off from holes 1-3 at 7:30 a.m. CT Tuesday for the final 18 holes. The Rebels will be paired with FSU and North Carolina.
Live Tweeting: @OleMissWGolf
Live Scoring: GolfStat
Ole Miss Rebels
3. Conner Beth Ball: 68-72--140 (-6)
T9. Pi-Lillebi Hermansson: 75-71--146 (E)
T15. Julia Johnson: 76-71--147 (+1)
T29. Kie Purdom: 73-78--151 (+5)
T80. Martina Flori: 88-82--170 (+24)
Leaderboard
1. Ole Miss: 292-292--584 (E)
2. Florida State: 292-293--585 (+1)
T3. North Carolina: 295-292--587 (+3)
T3. NC State: 294-294--587 (+3)
5. Wake Forest: 297-293--590 (+6)
6. Florida: 297-296--593 (+9)
7. Tennessee: 298-296--594 (+10)
8. Vanderbilt: 296-303--599 (+15)
9. Mississippi State: 301-303--601 (+17)
10. UCF: 306-296--602 (+18)
11. Maryland: 303-310--613 (+29)
12. Boston College: 310-307--617 (+33)
T13. North Florida: 307-320--627 (+43)
T13. Elon: 315-312--627 (+43)
15. College of Charleston: 317-314--631 (+47)
16. Charleston Southern: 321-313--634 (+50)
17. Charleston Southern (B): 335-320--654 (+70)
For all Ole Miss women's golf news and information, go to OleMissSports.com, and follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWGolf and Facebook at Ole Miss Women's Golf.
-UM-
Media Contact:
Alex Sims
515-720-2260
asims2@go.olemiss.edu
Players Mentioned
