SPOTLIGHT: Aiming To Help Make History

Sept. 16, 2011

By Kim Ling
Associate Athletics Media Relations Director

She's from Franklin, Tenn., near Nashville. She loves country music, and she loves to play golf. With her final campaign underway, senior golfer Ashley Lance is aiming to help make history with the Rebels later this year.

Lance began playing golf at the age of five as a way to spend quality time with her dad. Soon it became a passion.

"We lived in Indianapolis, and my dad would go hit balls after work. I wanted to spend time with him, so I started going along and hitting balls," Lance said. "Then we moved to Dallas, and every little girl played golf. I played golf with all the girls and boys in the area and fell in love with the game."

Lance figured out early in her junior career that she wanted to continue playing at the collegiate level. She was a two-time U.S. Girls Junior Championship qualifier and a two-time Tennessee State Champion.

"It was a goal of mine when I started playing AJGA [events] in the seventh and eighth grade. I saw other girls going on to play college golf. When I started having success, I realized it was something I could do in college, and it would make it a lot more memorable experience.

"At that time [seventh grade] we were living in Nashville, and I met some girls from Tennessee including Jillian Brodd (former teammate) and Calle Nielson (played at Virginia). We were all playing the same tournaments, and everyone had the same goal of playing college golf. It was nice to have other players pushing you to get better."

When it came time to choose a college, Lance, a southern girl, accepted an offer to Michigan State thinking at the time, the bigger the better.

"I went and fell in love with it. My [high school] graduating class had 80 people, and I thought I wanted to go to a really big school. I wanted a new experience. I wanted the gameday experience of big time college athletics. But, there were 40,000 people. It was just too big. The snow and being a long way from home was just too much. The first winter I was there, it was the coldest winter on record they said. My mom and I believe firmly that I was meant to be there for that year. It was a good experience."

After spending a year in cold, snowy Michigan, where it's hard to play golf year round, Lance sought a new home much closer to Nashville.

"Coach (Michele) Drinkard and Jillian led me to Ole Miss. Jillian and I had played junior golf and were best friends throughout. We had actually told coaches [during recruiting], that we should be a package deal," Lance said, laughing. "When I decided I wanted to transfer, I immediately called Jill and asked her how I would fit it on the Ole Miss team.

"Coach recruited me during high school, when she was at Birmingham Southern. She's an excellent recruiter. In fact, I remember getting an email from her on Sept. 1(first day coaches can send stuff to recruits), and thinking `she sounds like a great person, but I but I don't want to go there, because it's too small.' Everything just fell into place, and it was obvious I was meant to end up here. Coach and Jillian made the transition so easy."

For Lance, the reasons she loves Ole Miss are plenty, including Saturday's in the fall. "I love the Grove and going to the games. It's so much fun."

In regards to the main reason she's here Lance added, "We have the best team of anywhere. I can honestly say that every one of the girls is my best friend. I know that I will stay in contact with them no matter where I end up. Coach has worked really hard to get players here that work well together."

With three seniors and some talented newcomers, the Rebels are poised for a breakout season.

"We want to win a tournament this year," said Lance, a two-time National Golf Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete. "We came really close last year. For me personally, I would like to win a tournament. Natalie (Gleadall) broke the ground last year, when she won. Winning the Southern Am last summer, really made the fire burn inside of me, and I really want to win one this year."

That is the just the tip of the iceberg for the Rebels according to Lance. The team has qualified for NCAA Regionals all three of Lance's years here, but they have just missed out on advancing to the Championships. As they say, there's a first time for everything. With a core group of returnees and talented newcomers, Lance likes the team's chances for this to be their year.

"Our main goal is to go to NCAAs and contend at NCAAs. They are in Nashville this year, and I want the team to stay at my house. We can do it. I think we have a really good team and the best chance we've had since I've been here at achieving that."

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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