Julia Lopez Ramirez, the third-ranked amateur in the world, is turning professional

The amateur deadline to turn professional to compete in Final Qualifying is Friday at 5 p.m. ET.

One of the best players in college golf has decided to take the next step in her career.

Julia Lopez Ramirez, the third-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, is leaving Mississippi State and turning professional. She’s expected to tee it up next month in the Final Qualifying stage of LPGA Q-Series, which requires players to have professional status to compete. UCLA senior Zoe Campos, eighth in WAGR, also turned professional to play at Final Qualifying

Lopez Ramirez is the two-time reigning SEC individual champion and was one of 25 golfers on the Annika Award final fall watch list for her fall season.

Five amateurs advanced past the second stage of LPGA Qualifying, including 2024 NCAA individual champion Adela Cernousek, but the senior at Texas A&M is returning to school for the spring. Also advancing were Western Kentucky’s Catie Craig and Campos’ Bruin teammate Caroline Canales.

LPGA: With the success of PGA Tour University, should the LPGA follow suit for the top female collegiate players?

The amateur deadline to turn professional and compete in Final Qualifying is 5 p.m. ET Friday. Those who don’t turn professional will receive Epson Tour status.

Final Qualifying is set for Dec. 5-9 at Magnolia Grove Golf Club in Mobile, Alabama.

Arizona State wins Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, Julia Lopez Ramirez shoots tournament record

Julia Lopez Ramirez had a tournament-record score Wednesday.

It came down to the final hole, but Arizona State held on.

Grace Summerhays sank her bogey putt on the final hole at Long Cove Club in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, helping the Sun Devils capture the 2024 Darius Rucker Intercollegiate title. It’s the first win of the year for Arizona State, and it came at an event that featured six top-10 teams.

The Sun Devils finished at 3 over for the tournament, topping No. 11 Northwestern by a shot and No. 12 Auburn by two. Host South Carolina finished fourth at 6 over.

Summerhays led heading into the day but shot 4 over in the final round. Nevertheless, she finished T-7 at 2 under. Patience Rhodes and Beth Coulter each placed T-12 finishes at even.

Missy Farr-Kaye said her teams has worked hard the past couple months on being more positive. Even as the Sun Devils trailed for a majority of the day, she is proud of her team’s resilience and how they battled even after taking the lead.

The ASU women earned the win a day after the ASU men won in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

In the individual competition at the Darius Rucker, there was a four-way tie for medalist honors, and how each player got there was unique.

First, Mississippi State’s Julia Lopez Ramirez picked up her first win of the season and did so in record-setting fashion, shooting a tournament-record 7-under 64 to finish at 5 under. Her birdie putt on the last hole for a 63 came up inches short.

Then, Texas freshman Farah O’Keefe rolled in a lengthy birdie putt on her final hole to get to 5 under early and set the clubhouse lead that would hold on for the remainder of the day.

South Carolina’s Hannah Darling, a two-time first-team All-American, birdied two of her final five holes to get into the share of the lead.

Then Northwestern’s Jennifer Cai, who said in a post-round interview she had no idea where she should, was long on her final hole in two shots needing a par to join the group in the clubhouse. Her chip shot ran long and on to the fringe, but she buried the roughly 15-foot par putt to earn the win.

LSU’s Ingrid Lindblad, the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, finished a shot out of first, solo fifth at 4 under.

The favorite, three who could challenge and dark horses for the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship

Starting Friday, the NCAA Women’s Golf Championships gets underway from Grayhawk Golf Club.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. โ€” Starting Friday, the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship gets underway from Grayhawk Golf Club.

Thirty teams and six individuals will battle it out, beginning with four rounds of stroke play, starting Friday and concluding Monday when an individual champion will be crowned. Then the top eight teams will advance to match play, which begins Tuesday, and the finals will be Wednesday, when the team champion will be crowned.

Ahead of the first round of competition, Golfweek takes a look at some of the players to watch, including the favorite, those who could challenge for the individual crown and some dark horses who could make a run.

Golfweek/Sagarin rankings:ย Womenโ€™s teamย |ย Womenโ€™s individual

ANNIKA Award: First spring watch list for 2022-23 women’s college golf Player of the Year

Check out who’s in the running for women’s college golfer of the year.

With every passing week, the women’s college golf season creeps closer to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The ANNIKA Award announced Thursday its first spring watch list, featuring 15 of the best women’s college golfers this season. Rose Zhang, who captured the award as a freshman last season, is again having a stellar sophomore campaign, but there are plenty of others who are trying to claim the crown.

The ANNIKA Award honors the player of the year in college womenโ€™s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the ANNIKA Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual

ANNIKA Award: Final fall watch list for 2022-23 women’s college golf season

Check out who’s in the running for women’s college golfer of the year.

As the fall season winds to a close, itโ€™s time to recognize players who set themselves apart as frontrunners in womenโ€™s college golf over the past two and a half months.

Rose Zhang, who won the award as a freshman at Stanford last season, is off to an excellent start this year, but plenty of others are making their case early, like Andrea Lignell at Ole Miss, among many others.

The ANNIKA Award honors the player of the year in college womenโ€™s golf, as selected by college golfers, coaches and members of the college golf media. The players are listed alphabetically. Players on the ANNIKA Award Watch List were selected by a panel of Golfweek and Golf Channel reporters.

Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings: Women’s team | Women’s individual

Mississippi State women double up, win team and individual crown at 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational

It was a dominant final round for Mississippi State.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. โ€“ As soon as Julia Lopez Ramirez’s putt dropped, a loud barking sound came from the crowd behind the 12th green.

It was a common sound that echoed through the trees and hills that canvas The Blessings Golf Club on Wednesday. Lopez Ramirez, a sophomore on Mississippi State’s golf team, just sank a birdie putt before the barking started. Mimicking a bulldog, which is Mississippi State’s mascot, the sound reverberated through the property every time a player made a birdie during the final round of the 2022 Blessings Collegiate Invitational.

And there were a lot of birdies.

Mississippi State, which is eighth in the Golfweek Sagarin rankings, came from behind to capture its second straight tournament victory, and Lopez Ramirez was a huge reason why. She shot a 6-under 66 in the final round, finishing at 8 under for the week and beating Ole Miss’ Andrea Lignell, the 36-hole leader, by six shots.

“Yesterday was a tough day for me, so I just practiced a lot between rounds,” Lopez Ramirez said. “I got my energy back, as well as my patience, and it paid off.”

Lopez Ramirez led after 18 holes but struggled during the second round. Those struggles, and the ones her team grinded through Tuesday, were nowhere to be seen come Wednesday.

The Bulldogs were the only team to shoot under par on Wednesday and recorded the two lowest team scores of the week.

“The toughness and trust that this team has in themselves is wonderful,” Mississippi State coach Charlie Ewing said. “After a day like yesterday, they really trusted themselves, and they responded.”

The Blessings Collegiate Invitational has a different format, with 11 men’s and women’s teams coming together and playing at the same time. In addition to that, all five players for each team play together at the same time instead of being paired with those from other schools.

The format also caused slow play, with rounds taking about 7 hours to complete.

No. 10 Ole Miss, which led after Tuesday’s round by two shots, didn’t play poorly during the final round but wasn’t able to avoid costly mistakes.

Arkansas, which shot even-par as a team, finished at 25 over for the tournament and in third place. UCLA (29 over) and second-ranked Texas A&M (31 over) rounded out the top five.

In the individual race, Lopez Ramirez and Lignell were the only two golfers to finish under par. Ole Miss Chiara Tamburlini and Louisville’s Carmen Griffiths tied for third at 2 over.

Meanwhile, for the Bulldogs, the victory sets them up for plentiful success for the remainder of the fall schedule and into the spring.

“We have a lot of confidence,” Ewing said. “That’s one thing as a coach, you love to see your team have confidence. But we also hit the golf shots needed to win. I hope they soak this one up.”

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Team International defeats Team USA to win 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup

The United States now leads the Palmer Cup series 13-12-1.

Team International defeated Team USA to claim the 2022 Palmer Cup at Golf Club de Geneve in Switzerland on Sunday.

The International squad notched 13 singles wins during the final day en route to a 33 to 27 victory. The United States now leads the Palmer Cup series 13-12-1.

The Arnold Palmer Cup is a Ryder Cup-style event played annually that features teams of 24 players, consisting of 12 of the top men’s and 12 of the top women’s college golfers.

Julia Lopez Ramirez, the 2022 SEC Freshman of the Year after a stellar campaign at Mississippi State, earned the first singles win, defeating Brooke Seay 4 and 3.

โ€œIโ€™m so happy for this and the team,โ€ she said.

Mateo Fernรกndez de Oliveira of the International team (University of Arkansas ) and Amari Avery of Team USA (USC) each won every match they played this week.

Winners of exemptions into the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Amundi Evian Championship were Ludvig Aberg (Texas Tech), Aline Krauter (Stanford) and Benedetta Moresco (Alabama), as voted on by their peers at the event.

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