Oct. 17, 2009

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – South Carolina shot its best 18-hole team score of the season and tied for the eighth-best round in school history with a 290 (+2) on Saturday to move into third place at the Mercedes-Benz Women’s Collegiate Championship at Fox Den Country Club.

Senior Benedicte Toumpsin and freshman Amanda Strang turned in matching rounds of 72 (E) to lead the Gamecocks. Toumpsin started out with a bogey on the third hole, but made back-to-back birdies at the eighth and ninth to make the turn at 1-under. She got to 2-under with birdie at No. 12, but had two bogeys down the stretch to finish at level par. Toumpsin is tied for 16th heading into the final round.

Strang, meanwhile, made the turn at 2-over after three bogeys coupled with a birdie on the front nine. But she turned it on down the stretch, carding birdies at the 14th, 16th and 18th to finish with a 72 of her own, matching her season-best. Strang is tied for 29th through 36 holes.

Two other Gamecocks were right there with Toumpsin and Strang. Senior Corrine Carr turned in her second straight round of 73 (+1) to move to 2-over for the tournament. Her Saturday round nearly mirrored Friday’s, only with the nines reversed. She started out with four bogeys on her first seven holes and made the turn at 4-over. But she was bogey-free from the eighth hole on, carding birdies at Nos. 12, 14 and 17 to finish at 1-over. She is tied for ninth heading into her final round.

Sophomore Katie Burnett also shot 73 (+1) Saturday, an improvement of two shots from Friday to move into the top 20 as she is tied for 16th. Burnett had a relatively uneventful round, mixing three bogeys with two birdies on holes 4 and 15. Freshman Meredith Swanson shot 79 (+7) on Saturday.

Tournament host Tennessee put together their best 36 hole total in school history and leads by eight shots at 2-under heading into Sunday’s final round. Louisville, behind tournament leader Sara-Maude Juneau, is in second place at 6-over. The Gamecocks are third at 16-over with Kent State four shots back.

Louisville’s Juneau leads at 3-under for the tournament, followed by Cardinal teammate Laura Anderson and Tennessee’s Nathalie Mansson at 2-under.

The Gamecocks will be in the final group Sunday, paired with Tennessee and Louisville, with tee times beginning at 10:39 a.m. Fans can follow live scoring via golfstat.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T9. Corrine Carr – 73-73=146 (+2)
T16. Benedicte Toumpsin – 76-72=148 (+4)
T16. Katie Burnett – 75-73=148 (+4)
T29. Amanda Strang – 79-72=151 (+7)
T67. Meredith Swanson – 78-79=157 (+13)