March 28, 2010

ATHENS, Ga. – South Carolina was one of only six teams in the field to break 300 on Sunday, climbing up the leaderboard to a tie for 11th place against a very strong field at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic. Katie Burnett earned her fifth top-20 of the season after closing with a 72.

The Gamecocks posted a closing round of 299 (+15), the sixth-best team round of the day and easily South Carolina’s best of the weekend. South Carolina tied Virginia for 11th place at 932 (+68) on a very tough scoring weekend for all 23 teams in the field. All five Gamecocks had their best rounds of the tournament on Sunday, resulting in a 25-stroke improvement in the team score from the opening round and a 10-stroke upgrade from Saturday’s second round.

Burnett, a sophomore from Brunswick, Ga., had a rare even-par round of 72 on Sunday, going 36-36 to close strong and tie for 20th place. She made the turn at 1-under after a pair of birdies and a bogey on her first nine, then went double bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie on her last six holes to finish at level par, one of only 12 rounds at par or better on Sunday.

Senior Benedicte Toumpsin was lights-out on the course’s back nine, posting a 3-under 34 on that side. She struggled with the front side, however, with four bogeys and a double-bogey, along with one birdie, on the front nine to finish with a 74 (+2) to tie for 28th place overall.

Amanda Strang and Corrine Carr tied for 69th place as Strang poted a 77 (+5) on Sunday, a five-shot improvement over her second round, and Carr signed for a 79 (+7) to match her second-round score. Taylor Barrett had her best round of the week with a 76 (+4) on Sunday that included three birdies plus an eagle at the 385-yard, par-4 fourth hole.

Duke ran away with the team title, finishing at 889 (+25) after a closing round of 289 (+1) Sunday. Alabama was the runner-up, 21 shots back of the Blue Devils, and Arkansas took third place. Individually, Duke’s Lindy Duncan posted her third round of par or better to finish at 213 (-3), winning by eight shots over teammate Stacey Kim and Alabama’s Jennifer Kirby.

South Carolina will hit the links once again next weekend as they travel to Browns Summit, N.C., for the Bryan National Collegiate. The tournament runs Friday through Sunday at Bryan Park Players Course.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T20. Katie Burnett – 82-75-72=229 (+13)
T28. Benedicte Toumpsin – 81-76-74=231 (+15)
T69. Amanda Strang – 80-82-77=239 (+23)
T69. Corrine Carr – 81-79-79=239 (+23)
T81. Taylor Barrett – 86-79-76=241 (+25)

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. Duke – 889 (+25)
2. Alabama – 910 (+46)
3. Arkansas – 912 (+48)
T4. Purdue – 915 (+51)
T4. Auburn – 915 (+51)
6. Wake Forest – 921 (+57)
T7. Michigan State – 928 (+64)
T7. North Carolina – 928 (+64)
9. Denver – 929 (+65)
10. Ohio State – 931 (+67)
T11. South Carolina – 932 (+68)
T11. Virginia – 932 (+68)
13. Georgia State – 933 (+69)
14. Georgia (A)- 934 (+70)
15. Tulane – 937 (+73)
16. Tennessee – 938 (+74)
17. Kent State – 939 (+75)
18. Florida – 944 (+80)
19. Furman – 951 (+87)
20. Mississippi – 952 (+88)
21. UCF – 974 (+110)
T22. Mississippi State – 990 (+126)
T22. Georgia (B) – 990 (+126)