As the Mississippi State women’s golf team swings into the postseason, one player and one coach have been named to major award watchlists.
Julia Lopez Ramirez, coming off her second SEC Player of the Year award, is one of 10 nominees for this year’s ANNIKA Award. The honor goes annually to the nation’s top female collegiate golfer. Lopez Ramirez, who has never won but has been named to the watchlist three years in a row, looks to finally bring the trophy home to Starkville.
Lopez Ramirez was also one of five players named to the watchlist for the Women’s Golf Coaches Association’s Player of the Year award. The junior from Malaga, Spain is a two-time WGCA All-American but has never been named as the association’s best golfer. This year alone, Lopez Ramirez has shot an average of 68.4 while winning the SEC Individual Championship.
With Lopez Ramirez being a vital part of the Bulldogs’ historic season, the man running practices has been nominated for the WGCA’s Jackie Steinmann Coach of the Year Award. Charlie Ewing, in his fourth season in Starkville, has taken the program to heights never seen before. On top of the program’s first-ever SEC Championship, Ewing’s squad is set to compete for an NCAA Championship beginning Friday.
No. 23 Mississippi State will tee off in its program-record third consecutive NCAA Championship at 9:02 a.m. The Bulldogs are paired with No. 22 Virginia and No. 21 Pepperdine in the opening round.
