Golf Finishes Regular Season at Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic
FAYETTEVILLE – The Arkansas women’s golf team is putting a bow on the 2022-23 regular season by playing at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic this weekend. Taking place at the University of Georgia Golf Course, Arkansas will hit the links Friday, March 24 to Sunday, March 26 for three rounds of play.
The Liz Murphey Collegiate has been a staple in Arkansas’ schedule for years, as this marks the Razorbacks’ 27th appearance in the tournament. Arkansas will be joined by 14 other schools with the SEC making up about half the field at seven. At No. 34 in the latest Golfstat rankings, Arkansas is one of 10 schools in the top 50 among the field, five of which are in the top 20. SEC foe South Carolina is the highest-ranked team among the field at No. 4.
Miriam Ayora will lead the Razorbacks at the No. 1 spot in the lineup. She leads the Hogs with 10 rounds at par or under, as well as a team-leading 72.42 scoring average. Coming off being named SEC Golfer of the Week, a first for the program since 2019, Ayora fired away a career-low 7-under 209 (70-70-69) for 11th place at the MountainView Collegiate. She has also earned three top 10 finishes and a team-leading 66 birdies this season.
Kajal Mistry is entering the tournament also having a solid season and will play at the No. 2 spot. She is coming off a 1-under 215 (70-73-72) for a tie for 33rd place at the MountainView Collegiate. Mistry sits second in rounds at par or under with nine and has earned 62 birdies. The senior holds a 73.05 scoring average, while also playing all 21 rounds this season like Ayora. Mistry will be playing in her 100th career round on Friday.
The reigning SEC Freshman Golfer of the Week, Meghan Royal is coming off a career-low 3-under 213 (74-69-70) for a tie for a tie for 22nd place at the MountainView Collegiate. Royal will play at the No. 3 spot this weekend, and just a week ago, fired away her first round in the 60s of her collegiate career with a 69 in round two. The freshman is set for her sixth tournament, earning 37 birdies and six rounds at par/under.
Julia Gregg is back in the lineup for the second straight week and will play at No. 4. Gregg is coming off a 4-over 220 (76-72-72) at the MountainView Collegiate and enters Friday having played in 12 rounds and holding a 74.92 scoring average with one top 10 finish and 32 birdies. As one of the veterans on the team, Gregg has played in 87 career rounds with a 74.21 average on her four-year career.
Reagan Zibilski is set to play in her first tournament of the spring after having played in all four fall competitions. A freshman playing at No. 5, Zibilski has logged a 74.92 scoring average across 12 rounds and has 31 birdies. Her best performance of the year came in Pebble Beach, where she carded a 6-over 222 (73-72-77) for 20th place.
Arkansas is coming off the MountainView Collegiate having placed 12th out of 17 teams with an even-par 864 (287-289-288), which was the Razorbacks’ second best score this season.
ARKANSAS LINEUP
1. Miriam Ayora
2. Kajal Mistry
3. Meghan Royal
4. Julia Gregg
5. Reagan Zibilski
COMPETING TEAMS (GOLFSTAT RANKINGS)
- Alabama (45)
- Arkansas (34)
- Auburn (10)
- College of Charleston (47)
- Daytona State
- Florida (21)
- Georgia (29)
- Georgia Southern (79)
- Louisville (67)
- North Carolina (52)
- Purdue (54)
- San Diego State (91)
- South Carolina (4)
- Texas A&M (9)
- Virginia (19)
COURSE
University of Georgia Golf Course – Athens, Ga. – Par 72 – 6,326 yards
LIVE SCORING
TOURNAMENT NOTES
Arkansas is in its 27th appearance at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic with the program’s first appearance coming in 1996. The Razorbacks’ best finish at the tournament is second place, which came in 2014 when Gaby Lopez also won the event. Arkansas also has nine top-five showings at the tournament. Lopez (2014), Regina Plasencia (2015) and Brooke Matthews (2019) are Arkansas’ three all-time individual medalists at the tournament.
UP NEXT
Arkansas is set for the SEC Women’s Golf Championship set to take place Wednesday, April 12 to Sunday, April 16 in Birmingham, Alabama.
MORE INFORMATION
Keep up with all of the latest news and information and get behind the scenes looks into our program on our social media accounts. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @RazorbackWGolf and check out our Facebook page “Razorback Women’s Golf.” Stats, news and player information can be found at ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
