Razorback golfer Alana Uriell will play in the 2017 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, tournament officials announce today. Uriell will receive the exemption spot as part of the Road to #NWAChampionship, a partnership between the tournament and the Razorback Women’s Golf Team. Teammates Kaylee Benton and Maria Fassi will also have the opportunity to play in the tournament’s Monday qualifier event on June 19 at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers, Ark.

A Razorback junior, Uriell secured the exemption spot by holding the team’s top scoring average at 72.04 as of May 11. The Carlsbad, Calif. native posted four top 10s throughout her junior season and won her first collegiate title at the 2016 Alamo Invitational. She also appeared in the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G in 2016 by earning a spot through the Monday qualifier and the Road to #NWAChampionship.

Sophomores Benton and Fassi ranked second and third respectively on the Razorback golf team with scoring averages of 73.32 and 73.60. Both players will have the opportunity to secure spots in the official tournament field through the qualifier.

In 2016, then-freshman Fassi secured the Sponsor’s Exemption with a 72.56 Scoring Average. Teammates Uriell and Regina Plasencia earned the opportunity to play in the Monday qualifier event and each secured official spots into the field as well. The three student athletes were joined by former Razorbacks Stacy Lewis and Gaby Lopez, rounding out the total number of Razorbacks in the 2016 field to five. In 2015, then-student athlete Gaby Lopez earned the sponsor’s exemption with teammate Samantha Marks joining her in the field through the Monday qualifier. The Road to #NWAChampionship has been an official partnership between the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G and the Razorback Women’s Golf Team since 2015.

Photo courtesy of Arkansas Athletics Communications.