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OXFORD, Miss. — Former Ole Miss standout, Elle Johnson, defended her home turf with a win at the 2024 Mississippi Women’s Amateur, hosted by Ole Miss Golf Club in Oxford.

Johnson, a transfer from Florida State and a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, played two seasons for the Rebels (2022-2024). In her collegiate career, Johnson was a two-time Women’s Golf Coaches Association of America All-American Scholar (2021, 2022), a three-time ACC Academic Honor Roll selection (2020, ‘21, ‘22) and was named to the SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll in 2024.

Beginning a nursing program at Ole Miss this fall, Johnson had one last hoorah before school was back in session.

Her tournament started slow — back-to-back bogeys began her tournament, likely knocking off the cobwebs and jitters that come with tournament golf. Johnson got it back into red numbers, playing the sequential par 5s (Nos. 13 and 14) at 3 under to card an opening round 1-under 71.

Sleeping on the lead, Johnson, and the rest of the field, had the remnants of Hurricane Beryl to deal with during Tuesday’s second round. Off and on sprinkles were overshadowed by Beryl’s winds. With gusts reaching 40 miles an hour, the main goal for players was to manage their game and grind out a solid round.

Johnson was able to do just that, posting a 74 (+2) that featured three birdies on the front nine. Meanwhile, incoming Ole Miss freshman, Emerson Blair was on the offensive. Her consecutive rounds of even par golf gave her a one-shot lead over Johnson with just 18 holes left to play. McComb’s Harper Hinckley (+4) and Southaven’s Erin Donovan (+5) were also within striking range as the championship flipped over to the final round.

Playing with Blair and Hinckley in the final group, Johnson closed out her front nine in fashion, carding birdies on three of her final four holes to give herself a three-stroke lead with nine holes remaining.

On the back nine, Johnson played steadily. With a lone bogey on No. 11, she held a three-stroke lead heading into the final hole of the championship. Sticking her blind approach into the par 4 18th to 6 feet, Johnson rolled in one last birdie to close her championship run out in fashion.

“I tried to stay patient and just play my game,” Johnson told the MGA following her win.

With college golf behind her and nursing school on the horizon, Johnson was excited to get the win on her home turf.

“It feels good,” she exclaimed. “I was definitely a little nervous coming into this because I haven’t played a tournament round in a while. But, yeah, it makes me happy to end my summer on this.”

Senior Women’s Amateur

On the senior side of the Women’s Amateur, it was a two-day shootout for the crown.

Defending champ Shannon Adams (‘16, ‘23) and former tree-time champion, Pam Posey (‘10, ‘11,’15), led the way after round 1 with matching 79s while battling the remnants of Beryl. The pair would finish second and third, respectively as another former champ made quite the charge up the leaderboard.

2020 champion, Paige Phillips found herself in fourth place and four shots off the lead following the first round. Carding an 83, the former champ knew she had her work cut out for her against the best senior women in the state. 

The Hattiesburg native went on a tear in the final round, posting an even-par 72 that featured three birdies and an eagle on the par 5 6th. Phillips’ final round was the low round of the tournament by a whopping seven shots and ensured a five-stroke victory for her second Mississippi Senior Women’s Championship.