Nov. 4, 2006

Orlando, Fla. – After having its second-round consolation match against Florida postponed last night with only three holes to play, the South Carolina women’s golf team was surprised by the Gators when play resumed Saturday morning at the NGCA Match Play Championship played at the Eagle Creek Golf Club, with Florida emerging victorious to knock the Gamecocks out of the double-elimination tournament.

Florida owned a 2-1-0 lead when the match was postponed last night, but Carolina was in the driver’s seat, owning the lead in each of the two suspended matches. Junior Blythe Worley held a one-up lead on Florida’s Ornella Jouven with one hole to play and junior Whitney Simons was one-up on the Gators’ Mallory Blackwelder with two holes to play. Worley was able to hold on Saturday, finishing with a 2 and 1 win, but Blackwelder evened things up with Simons after sinking a 15-foot putt on the final hole to halve the match. Though the final score was dead even at 2-2-1, Florida won the tiebreaker based on the fact that the margin of victory in the matches that the Gators won was larger than the margin of defeat in the matches that the Gamecocks won.

The match put a cap on the fall portion of South Carolina’s schedule. The Gamecocks open the spring season at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic Feb. 23-25.

Score Tied 2-2-1, Florida Wins Tiebreaker
Blythe Worley (South Carolina) 2 and 1 over Ornella Jouven (Florida)
Sandra Gal (Florida) 5 and 3 over Laura Raffo (South Carolina)
Whitney Myers (Florida) 4 and 2 over Taylor Barrett (South Carolina)
Whitney Simons (South Carolina) halves with Mallory Blackwelder (Florida)
Bénédicte Toumpsin (South Carolina) 4 and 3 over Tiffany Chudy (Florida)