Jillian Hollis will represent the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2018 NCAA Women’s Golf Championships this weekend in Stillwater, Okla. Hollis finished ninth individually at the Tallahassee Regional to earn a spot in the field that will compete at the Karsten Creek Golf Club.
Hollis will be paired with Maddie Szeryk of Texas A&M and Leonie Harm of Houston for the first two rounds. That trio will tee off at 2:10 ET on Friday and at 9:25 am ET on Saturday.
“Jillian should get to compete for a national title because I think she’s one of the five or 10 best amateurs in the world,” Georgia coach Josh Brewer said. “She deserves that stage.”
The Bulldogs entered the Regional as the No. 9 seed and finished eighth, two spots off advancing to the NCAAs as a team.
“I’m excited,” Hollis said. “I am bummed that our team didn’t make it, but I am excited to go. I just need to keep playing my game and be positive and everything will work out.”
There are 132 golfers in the NCAA field, including 12 competing solely on an individual basis. Following Sunday’s third round, the participants will be trimmed to the top 15 teams and the low nine individuals who are not members of those teams. The NCAA medalist will be determined after Monday’s fourth and final round of stroke play.
Hollis’ trip to Oklahoma State will wrap up a record-setting spring for the junior from Rocky River, Ohio. Most notably, Hollis has all but already shattered Georgia’s season stroke average record. She arrives at the NCAAs with a 70.64 average over 22 rounds this season. The existing school record is 71.52, set by Marta Silva Zamora en route to winning 2011 National Player of the Year accolades.
Hollis Earns US Open Spot
Jillian Hollis shot 2-under 140 in a qualifier at the Ranch Country Club on Monday, May 14 to earn a bid to the U.S. Women’s Open later this summer. Hollis finished as runner-up in the field that included 58 golfers.
“It was a good day,” Hollis said. “I just played the way I play. I had my mom (Sharon) caddying for me. That was nice because we got to bounce back numbers to each other. We had to calculate with the altitude. I really liked the course, and it set up nicely for me. I was actually 3-under on second 18 and finished with three bogeys, but I still made it. It was nerve-racking but good.”
Hollis will compete in the Open later this month from May 31-June 3 at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club outside Birmingham, Ala. The event will be her first as a professional as she intends to turn professional following this weekend’s NCAA Championships.
“It just hit me that my first tournament as a pro will be the U.S. Open,” Hollis said. “That’s so cool. I’ll be able to go in there with no pressure on me. I can just go out and play golf. No one really knows who I am. I’m just going out there and playing. That’s when I play the best.