Ally McDonald Ewing, a Mississippi State University graduate from Fulton, Mississippi, was the first MSU alumni to have a victory on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour.
It is in her name that MSU hosted their annual tournament at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi last week.
The 54-hole tournament, dubbed “The Ally,” was held last week from Oct. 25-27. These dates also concluded MSU’s women’s golf team’s fall season.
MSU was ranked 42nd going into the week, and the hosted teams all ranked above them. The teams hosted were all members of the Southeastern Conference except for Texas Christian University.
The SEC teams hosted were Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Kentucky, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, Florida, Alabama and Arkansas.
Head coach Charlie Ewing, leader of the women’s golf team, shared how this tournament means a lot to him as a coach, but also as husband to Ally herself.
“It certainly is a special week in our program and certainly over the years with the name changing to The Ally, and Ally (his wife) having a pretty significant role in my life, has definitely become a very important week for me,” Ewing said.
As they were gearing up for the big week, five players were chosen for their strong team during the tournament, although there were other players involved throughout the tournament as well.
The team was led by Julia Lopez Ramirez, a freshman from Malaga, Spain, Blair Stockett, redshirt senior from Jackson, Mississippi, Hannah Levi, junior from D’Iberville, Mississippi, Ashley Gilliam, junior from Manchester, Tennessee, and Abbey Daniel, junior from Covington, Louisiana.
Individual competitors for the three-day stretch were graduates Lauren Miller from Niceville, Florida, and Valeria Mendizabal from Guatemala City, Guatemala, along with freshman Ana Pina Ortega from Seville, Spain, and sophomore Jarutrawee Khotchagrai from Bangkok, Thailand.
“We’ve got a lot of players that … have made some big splashes on some really really big stages and that’s really fun to see,” Ewing shared about his team before the tournament last week.
Each of the three days of the tournament, the teams played 18 holes.
On the first day, MSU had a final score of 291, 3-over, leading them to a ninth place position for round one.
During round two, the Dawgs climbed six spots, leading them to third place after playing 7-under par for day two.
Closing out the tournament in the third round, the Bulldogs finished in fourth place after going 3-under par in the final 18 holes.
With a final team score of 7-under, MSU reached a team history milestone of sixth lowest team score on 54 holes.
The University of Alabama took home first place, finishing out their fall season with the win at Old Waverly.
A 22-under par final score took the Crimson Tide to victory. Head Coach Mic Potter of Alabama’s women’s golf team shared in a statement how the week went for them.
“We’ve always liked this golf course,” Head Coach Potter said about West Point’s historic course. “… The weather was good, everybody was relaxed. The girls got to stay in a condominium and walk out on the golf course. All those things, I think it was comfortable for them, along with being really talented and gifted players.”
With the team’s fall season coming to a close, they will undoubtedly look to come back stronger in the spring and make a run at an SEC championship.
