Mississippi State
UCF Challenge
No. 11 Women’s Golf Set to Open the Spring Slate in the Sunshine State
February 03, 2023 | Women's Golf
STARKVILLE –The 11th-ranked Mississippi State women's golf squad is set to return to the course for the Spring portion of its season on Sunday where they will tee off at the UCF Challenge. The three-day event will begin Sunday, Feb. 5th, and run through Tuesday.
Eagle Creek Golf Club Orlando will set the stage for the 54-hole stroke play event. Designed by world-renowned golf course architects Ron Garl and Howard Swan, Eagle Creek is an extraordinary 18-hole, 6379-yard, Par 72 championship course. This unique course is part of an elite group of designated "Audubon International Silver Signature" courses and features more than 60 white sand bunkers with water hazards walled with bulkheads, all nestled beneath a canopy of towering trees and foliage.
The 2023 edition of the UCF Challenge features a very talented 18-team field loaded with top-25 ranked teams as well as individual players all vying for the first win of 2023. The five teams ranked inside this week's Golf Stat rankings include the eleventh-ranked Bulldogs who will be joined by No. 2 Wake Forest, No. 6 Texas A&M, No. 20 Kent State and No. 23 Iowa State. Host university UCF, Charleston, Kansas, Kentucky, Miami, Michigan State, North Florida, North Texas, Northwestern, Old Dominion, Penn State, UNC Greensboro, and Virginia Tech round out the field.
Individually, seven of the nation's top 25 collegiate golfers reside in this tournament. Bulldog standout Julia Lopez Ramirez enters the UCF Challenge ranked 11th following a very strong fall season. No. 5 Rachel Kuehn (Wake Forest), No. 8 Tunrada Piddon (UCF), No. 12 Jennie Park (Texas A&M), No. 13 Karisa Chul-Ak-Sorn (Iowa State), No. 17 Carol Lopez Chacarra (Wake Forest), and No. 22 Emma Schimpf (Charleston) highlight some of the very best in women's collegiate golf.
State will roll with the same lineup from the final tournament of the fall that featured the debut of freshman Surapa Janthamunee.
Senior Abbey Daniel will take the number one spot in her 28th career appearance. In the fall, Daniel began her senior season with a top-15 finish, carding 4-over (220) to finish tied for 13th at the Carmel Cup. In the 2022 Mason Rudolph Championship, Daniel used a very strong showing in the final rounds to secure her second top-10 finish of her career (tied for 10th with 4-over) to help the Bulldogs secure a team victory.
Senior Hannah Levi will shoot second in her 36th career appearance. Levi began her fall season by securing her ninth career top-20 finish, tying for 18th (5-over, 221) at the Carmel Cup. In the tournament-winning efforts at the Mason Rudolph Championship and Blessings Collegiate Invitational, Levi was essential for State. Levi recorded her fifth top-5 finish and 11th top-15 finish in back-to-back weeks to secure back-to-back wins.
Freshman Izzy Pellot has appeared in every event in her young Bulldog career thus far and will shoot third in Orlando. Pellot was very reliable for MSU throughout the fall. Pellot posted three straight top-20 finishes in the fall including back-to-back T11 performances (Mason Rudolph Championship & Blessings Collegiate Invitational).
In her second team career appearance, Surapa Janthamunee will shoot fourth. Janthamunee, nicknamed SJ, shined in her Bulldog team debut. Throughout the final round of the Battle at the Beach, Janthamunee played the best round of her collegiate career so far. Janthamunee sunk six birdies on the day, adding nine pars to roll consecutive rounds in the 60s to open her career (3-under, 68). Janthamunee finished in the top 10, finishing 9th (2-under, 211). Throughout the event, SJ sunk the most birdies with 17.
Rounding out the lineup is Julia Lopez Ramirez who is competing in her 18th event in the Maroon and White. Coming off her SEC Freshman of the Year honor a season ago, Lopez Ramirez had a very successful fall season where she captured the fourth individual title of her career in the Blessings Collegiate Invitational. Lopez Ramirez paced the field from start to finish in her victory as she never dropped below second throughout the event. In the opening round, Lopez Ramirez broke the women's records for Blessings Golf Club Course Record and Blessings Collegiate Invitational's lowest round (65, 7-under par). In the final round, Lopez Ramirez delivered her 13th round in the 60s, carding a 6-under par 66.
The Bulldogs will tee off from 9:15-9:51 AM Eastern Time from Hole 1 in the opening round and will be paired with Wake Forest and UCF. All updates regarding tee times for the UCF Challenge can be found on Twitter and Instagram by searching "HailStateWG".
For the most up-to-date information on the Bulldogs, follow MSU women's golf on Twitter, like them on Facebook, and join them on Instagram by searching for "HailStateWG."
– HailState.com –
Players Mentioned
