University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Women's Golf set for in-state matchup at Magnolia Invitational
10/13/2018 8:43:00 AM | Women's Golf
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss women's golf team is set to return to action this weekend in West Point, Miss., for the three-day Magnolia Invitational. The action begins Sunday morning at the Old Waverly Golf Club, a par-72, 6,320-yard course.
The field includes Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Auburn, Coastal Carolina, East Tennessee, Kansas State, Kennesaw State, LSU, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech.Â
"I'm really excited about the 2018-19 long-term team focus, and I tried to get us all up there in August," head coach Lucy Nunn said. "It's one of my favorite courses, and I was also here when I was with Kentucky and Houston. It's really special to me. We will put our Colorado trip behind us with this good field and see what we've got."
The Golden Eagles will be represented by Valentina Haupt, Cassidy Evreniadis, Julie Baker, Emily Cox and Valeria Pichardo, marking the season debuts for the latter two. Cox played in all but one tournament for the team last year, finishing fourth in stroke average.
This is a course that brings about good memories for Haupt, who finished fifth in last year's field with a 2-under 214. The team finished with an 890, then the sixth-lowest 54-hole total in school history. Before that, the team had not played competitively on the course since 2014.
Southern Miss began the season with an 8-over 872 at the USA Intercollegiate in Mobile, Ala. (and fifth-place finish), a three-round school record. The second tournament marked a much tougher challenge for the squad, firing a 929 at the Golfweek Conference Challenge. There were some bright spots in that trip to the beautiful Rockies, as the team improved 13 strokes from Day 1 to 2.
The 2017 edition of the tournament saw Ole Miss win the team title at 10-under 854. The Rebels' Julia Johnson shot a 7-under and defeated Memphis' Abby Hermann in a two-hole playoff on No. 18 to become the individual champion.
Players Mentioned
