SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – A few days before Julia Johnson arrived in Oxford, Miss., for her first semester at Ole Miss in August 2017, she jotted down a list of goals. The fifth and final goal on that piece of paper was written in all caps.
NATIONAL CHAMPION.
Johnson can now finally cross that one off.
The Rebels senior and her teammates delivered Ole Miss its first NCAA Championship – in any sport – with a convincing 4-1 victory over Oklahoma State in Wednesday’s match-play final at Grayhawk Golf Club.
“I always believed that we could do this,” Johnson said, “and not a lot of people did.”
Johnson, of St. Gabriel, Louisiana, was initially destined to remain in state, verbally committing to LSU as a sophomore in high school. But her path changed shortly after Kory Henkes was hired to lead the Ole Miss women’s program in June 2015. Johnson had joined friends and Rebel commits Macy Holliday and Conner Beth Ball at an LSU at Ole Miss football game that fall, and though a respectful Henkes kept her distance, she left a lasting impression on Johnson.
It wasn’t long before Henkes’ phone rang.
Hi, I’m Julia Johnson and I’d love to play for you.
“I basically begged her to let me come to Ole Miss,” Johnson said, “just because I wanted to be there and wanted to be with her so much.”
Together, Henkes and Johnson have built something special. Before fate led Johnson to Oxford, Henkes sat down for her first team meeting and immediately laid out some lofty goals, including SEC and NCAA championships.
“A couple of the girls looked around and laughed, like, Yeah, right, not here,” she recalled. “So, I quickly learned I needed to change the culture and change us to a winning mindset. Did I think it would happen in six years? Probably not, but if you get the right people in place, good things happen.”
Ole Miss women’s golf receives NCAA title trophy
Johnson was the determined leader that the hard-working and passionate Henkes needed to ignite the program when she joined the team two years later. In her first season, Johnson was named SEC Freshman of the Year and then fired a closing 67 at regionals to lead Ole Miss to its first-ever NCAA Championship. However, the Rebels finished last at nationals that season, a sign that Henkes’ program build was not yet complete.
Enter Kennedy Swann, the wild personality from Austin, Texas, who after five semesters at Clemson was desperate for a new home. Unsurprisingly, Ole Miss was at the top of Swann’s list, but the interest wasn’t initially reciprocated. There were plenty of red flags.
“I was extremely immature,” Swann said. “My golf game sucked. My putting was horrible. I didn’t really know what I was doing.”
Added Henkes: “I didn’t know if it was the right fit for our program.”
At first, Henkes told Swann no, but she soon changed her mind, albeit offering Swann an ultimatum: You mess up once and you’re done.
Swann never messed up. She channeled her endless energy into unwavering positivity, becoming the yin to the level-headed Johnson’s yang. Her game improved, too, and in her first semester with the Rebels, she went 3-0 in match play at the 2019 SEC Championship to lead Ole Miss to its first conference crown. Later that season, the Rebels made strides at the national championship, tying for 14th.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without this team,” Swann said. “They have yelled at me when I needed to be yelled at and hugged me when I needed to be hugged.”
And danced with her when she’s wanted to dance. Before Wednesday’s pressure-packed final in the desert, the Ole Miss players busted out their best moves on Grayhawk’s driving range.
There was plenty to celebrate already:
Navigating a pandemic-affected season without a single positive test.
Winning twice and entering a third straight NCAA Championship as the fifth-ranked team in the country.
Overcoming injuries to two of their best players, Chiara Tamburlini and Ellen Hume, to make match play for the first time.
Taking down Texas and Arizona for the opportunity to play for a national championship.
All that was left was to go win the damn thing.
Ole Miss athletic director Keith Carter, a former All-American basketball player for the Rebels, described Henkes’ team as reflecting all the attributes of their coach: Gritty, tough, fiery. That was on full display against the Cowgirls, who were also trying for school history, hoping to become Oklahoma State’s first women’s national champion.
Tamburlini got Ole Miss on the board first. Still fuming from giving up a 3-up lead in the semifinals, the sophomore jumped on Lianna Bailey early and never let up in a 6-and-5 victory. It was a dominating performance by a player who almost wasn’t able compete.
After the SEC Championship, Tamburlini started experiencing severe dizziness, vomiting and bleeding in her ears. Doctors determined her to be suffering from labyrinthitis, an infection of the inner ear. She wore a headband over both ears for much of the week, though midway through her rout of Bailey, she took it off. She was feeling much better.
Swann then earned the second point, going out first against first-team All-American Maja Stark and winning, 2 and 1. Swann capped her match by sticking her approach to gimme range at the par-4 17th. Stark quickly grabbed Swann’s ball and tossed it over in the rough before missing a putt to stay alive.
The clinching point had then become inevitable. Sophomore Andrea Lignell was coming up the penultimate hole with a 2-up lead on Isabella Fierro while Johnson was leading Rina Tatematsu 4 up with four to play. Lignell ended up sealing the deal with Johnson and her opponent on the 15th green.
Upon hearing official word that it was over, Henkes turned to Johnson, the player most responsible for the Rebels’ rise, and said, simply, “We’re national champions!”
Over at No. 17, the rest of the Ole Miss players were frantically searching for Johnson, making a brief dash through the desert only to end up back where they started. Moments later, they saw Johnson running toward them down the 17th fairway with Henkes close behind.
They met in the middle, and the celebration ensued with the surprisingly large Ole Miss contingent. Carter had flown in that morning along with several others, including Glenn Boyce, the university’s chancellor, and Chris Malloy, the Rebels men’s golf coach. Henkes’ husband, Kenneth, was also there to witness history.
Before Wednesday, no Ole Miss sports team had played for and won an NCAA Championship. Football claims three national titles, in 1959, 1960 and 1962, though none of those are widely recognized. And previously only two programs had competed in an NCAA final, men’s tennis in 1995 and air rifle this year.
“This sets the tone for our department,” Carter said. “We talk all the time about winning championships. We don’t want to just show up. They validated that today.”
Also part of the crowd of Crimson and Yale Blue were two past Ole Miss student-athletes. Ronald “Goldie” McClendon and his wife, Jade, were both two-sport stars for the Rebels who graduated in 2004. Ronald played football and ran track. Coincidentally, Ole Miss beat Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl his senior season.
Jade, meanwhile, is part of the Rebels women’s golf family. When she was in school, the idea of this program winning a national title was a pipe dream. Her and her teammates didn’t have a multi-million-dollar practice facility back then. Heck, they didn’t even get a clubhouse until her final season.
The McClendons, who live in Scottsdale, gave the coaches and players good-luck bracelets before the final. They worked.
“It’s like a sisterhood,” she said, “and when you know the grit that these girls have been through and put forth to be in these moments, it’s just amazing. I feel like a proud mommy.”
Henkes was overwhelmed by the support.
“It really takes a village,” she said numerous times Wednesday evening.
Swann couldn’t hold back the tears, either. Not only had she capped her Ole Miss career by winning it all, but Johnson, a likely first-team All-American, had decided to forfeit the exemption she had just received into the Marathon LPGA Classic later this summer and pass it on to Swann, who plans to turn pro and compete in Q-School this fall.
“That was so selfless of her,” Swann said. “That means the world to me. That’s going to be a huge help for me in my pro career.”
As for Johnson, she has no plans for making the jump to the play-for-pay ranks any time soon.
She’s coming back for an extra year, and she has a new goal: Going back-to-back.