Making an eagle on the first hole of a scheduled 36-hole match-play event doesn’t guarantee a golfer is going to have a great day, but another eagle on the 28th hole made sure of one for Ashley Lance.
The University of Mississippi golfer from Franklin, Tenn., put on a show with her putter all week at the Lookout Mountain Golf Club, but Lance saved her best for last Friday when she defeated University of Arkansas player Corinna Rees 9 and 8 to win the championship flight in the Women’s Southern Amateur tournament.
Lance, who will be a junior at Ole Miss next season, rolled in a 40-footer on her first putt of the day. She said it was the first time all week that she won the first hole.
Her college coach, Michele Drinkard, made the long morning drive from Oxford and got to the course in time to see Lance walk off the 11th green. She had a three-hole lead at that point and was up four after the first 18.
The pivotal stretch came midway through the front nine the second time around. Lance bogeyed No. 4, but Rees bogeyed, too. Rees outdrove Lance on No. 5 but ended up away after their approach shots.