In addition to Fassi, University of Arkansas golfers Alana Uriell and Regina Plasencia will compete in the tournament’s Monday qualifier event

The 10th annual Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G announced Freshman Maria Fassi as the recipient of its 2016 Sponsor’s Exemption as part of the annual Road to the #NWAChampionship partnership. With only one semester of college golf under her belt, Fassi earned the exemption with a 72.56 Scoring Average, making her the top ranked player on the Razorback Women’s Golf Team and the 15^th ranked player in America. Alana Uriell and Regina Plasencia rounded out the season with the second and third best scoring averages, giving them the opportunity to play in the tournament’s Monday qualifier event.

“It will be an amazing experience playing with the top players in the world at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, and I’m excited to learn from them,” said Fassi. “I am really thankful for this opportunity and look forward to making memories at the tournament.”

Fassi is the newest and youngest member of the Razorback golf team, joining the team in January. At the beginning of the semester, tournament officials and Razorback Golf Coach Shauna Estes-Taylor evaluated that Fassi would become eligible for the Road to the #NWAChampionship after she completed 16 rounds of competition and therefore becoming  ranked on the official Golfstat player rankings.

The 18-year-old golfer hails from Pachuca, Mexico and joined the team in January 2016 after finishing high school last December. In her first collegiate tournament experience at just 17 years old, Fassi won the Lady Puerto Rico Classic shooting a low round 67 and three-round total 208. She has remained consistent all season carding four top-10 finishes in the first five events of her collegiate career. In 2015, Fassi won the Mexican Amateur and qualified to play in the U.S. Women’s Open.

“I couldn’t be more proud of each of these ladies for their hard work and performance on and off the course this spring,” Razorback Women’s Golf Coach Shauna Estes explains. “This is especially exciting for Maria with this being her freshman year and first semester of college golf. She has proven herself these past few months and I look forward to seeing her represent the University of Arkansas at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.”

Razorback Sophomore Alana Uriell closed out the season with a 73.46 scoring average and Senior Regina Plasencia finished with an average of 73.93. Both golfers will compete in the tournament’s qualifier round on Monday, June 20 for a chance to claim each of the two final spots available in the official tournament field. Plasencia competed in the 2014 and 2015 tournament qualifier, while this is Uriell’s first year to compete.

This marks the second year of the Road to the #NWAChampionship partnership between the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G and the University of Arkansas Women’s Golf Team. The  partnership guarantees one Razorback student-athlete a Sponsor’s Exemption into the tournament and two student-athletes the chance to Monday qualify for the full field LPGA event. Past exemptions have included Stacy Lewis, Emily Tubert and Gaby Lopez, who finished T29 at the 2015 event.

To find out more about the Road to #NWAChampionship or the LPGA tournament, please visitwww.nwachampionship.com.