May 12, 2007

Baton Rouge, La. – Despite turning in the second-best 54-hole team score in school history and having two of its players post career-best 54-hole scores, the South Carolina women’s golf team saw its 2006-07 season come to an end Saturday at the NCAA East Regional Championship played at the par-72 LSU University Club, as the Gamecocks finished tied for ninth with a 290-289-295=874 (+10). The Gamecocks were four strokes shy of finishing among the top eight in the field and thus earning a berth into the NCAA Championship.

Every Gamecock player shot better than her respective season stroke average during the tournament, with freshman Bénédicte Toumpsin turning in the fourth-lowest postseason 54-hole score in school history with a 72-73-72=217 (+1). Toumpsin’s score at this year’s NCAA East Regional placed her behind only current LPGA players Kristy McPherson (209 at the 2002 East Regional and a 214 at the 2001 East Regional) and Siew Ai Lim (214 at the 1995 East Regional) in the annals of Gamecock postseason performances.

Juniors Camila Mori and Blythe Worley both turned in the best 54-hole scores of their respective careers this weekend, with fellow junior Whitney Simons posting her best 54-hole effort of the season and the second-best mark of her career. Mori and Worley tied for 36th on the individual leader board with Mori finishing with a 73-72-73=218 (+2) and Worley carding a 72-72-74=218 (+2). Simons’ 73-73-76=222 (+6) was just three strokes off her career-low 54-hole score of 75-73-71=219 at the 2005 Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Intercollegiate and placed her tied for 56th on the individual leader board.

Second-team all-Southeastern Conference performer Jenna Pearson, who led South Carolina all year long and was the Gamecocks most accomplished performer the last four seasons, was solid through the first two rounds but struggled to find her game in Saturday’s final round as she finished the event tied for 59th with a 73-72-78=223 (+7). Pearson was at even par through the first 11 holes in Saturday’s final round, but went double-bogey, par, triple-bogey, bogey, bogey on holes 12 through 16 to fall out of the running.

The Gamecocks advanced to the postseason for the ninth consecutive year in 2007 and earned the 12th postseason berth in 13 years under Head Coach Kristi Coggins. Seven of the eight players on this year’s roster return next season.

Team Leader Board
1. Duke: 291-281-272=844 (-20)
2. UCLA: 281-283-282=846 (-18)
3. Wake Forest: 284-284-290=858 (-6)
4. Auburn: 293-282-286=861 (-3)
T5. Purdue: 285-290-287=862 (-2)
T5. North Carolina: 290-292-280=862 (-2)
7. Alabama: 287-289-292=868 (+4)
8. Louisville: 286-289-295=870 (+6)
———————
T9. South Carolina: 290-289-295=874 (+10)
T9. Virginia: 295-288-291=874 (+10)
T11. Florida State: 292-298-285=875 (+11)
T11. Furman: 284-290-301=875 (+11)
13. Texas A&M: 291-288-299=878 (+14)
14. LSU: 287-295-299=881 (+17)
15. Birmingham-Southern: 297-295-298=890 (+26)
16. College of Charleston: 292-303-296=891 (+27)
17. South Florida: 306-294-294=894 (+30)
18. NC State: 302-303-294=899 (+35)
19. Western Carolina: 301-308-297=906 (+42)
20. Jacksonville State: 324-301-311=936 (+72)
21. Jackson State: 329-325-326=980 (+116)

Gamecocks on the Individual Leader Board
T26. Bénédicte Toumpsin: 72-73-72=217 (+1)
T36. Camila Mori: 73-72-73=218 (+2)
T36. Blythe Worley: 72-72-74=218 (+2)
T56. Whitney Simons: 73-73-76=222 (+6)
T59. Jenna Pearson: 73-72-78=223 (+7)