MOBILE, Ala. - University of South Alabama women's golf head coach T.J. Jackson announced the signing of Ashleigh Ryals to a National Letter-of-Intent Monday. Ryals is expected to join the program for the 2010-11 season.
Ryals helped lead Gulf Breeze High School in Gulf Breeze, Fla., to a school-best fourth-place finish in the 2009 state tournament with a 4-over-par 146. She is a three-time Florida High School Athletic Association District 1-A champion, and boasts a 37.5 stroke average per nine holes. Ryals was named the 2008 Pensacola News Journal Girls Golfer of the Year, and was a first-team all-area selection in 2009.
"I've seen Ashleigh play a handful of times, and she has a lot of tournament experience and has played well in those tournaments," Jackson said. "Her golf mechanics are very sound. She really has no weaknesses, it's just a matter of having good timing and fine-tuning her game as she goes. I'm really excited in that respect. Ashleigh will come in with a good golf game with a willingness to improve. She will step right into the lineup and help us, and should come in and continue her success here at South Alabama."
She won the 22nd Annual Rocky Bayou Junior Classic in June 2009 with a 2-over-par tournament score of 146, and has earned six top-five finishes within the past year, including two runner-up finishes at the SJGT Tour Championship and the SJGT Fallen Oak Junior Classic. Ryals placed seventh in the FHSAA Class 2A Girls state championship as a junior with a 2-over-par score of 146. She earned a 10th-place finish at the 29th Annual Bubba Conlee National Junior Golf Tournament in 2009 with a three-round total of 226.
Ryals is a member of National Honor Society, and ranks 71st in her class out of 374.
"Ashleigh is an excellent student, and participated in the First Tee program at Pebble Beach last summer," Jackson said. "To get into that tournament, you have to go through a rigorous interview process. It's about 30 percent golf and the rest is academics and personality."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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