March 30, 2006

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The Basics
The South Carolina women’s golf team heads to Browns Summit, N.C., to compete in the Bryan National Collegiate, played at the par-72 Champions Course at Bryan Park from March 31-April 2.

How To Get Results
Results will be available at the end of each day on the official web site of South Carolina athletics, www.uscsports.com, with live scoring kept throughout the tournament on www.golfstat.com.

Bryan National Collegiate Field
No. 1 Duke, No. 6 Georgia, No. 8 Purdue, No. 11 Wake Forest, No. 12 California, No. 13 Tennessee, No. 14 Vanderbilt, No. 16 Florida, No. 17 Virginia, No. 20 Oklahoma State, North Carolina, LSU, South Carolina, NC State, Furman, UNC-Wilmington, College of Charleston, UNC-Greensboro

Top Players Competing At The Bryan National
Rank* Player, School
No. 1 Amanda Blumenherst, Duke
No. 7 Anna Grzebien, Duke
No. 10 Elizabeth Janangelo, Duke
No. 12 Jacqui Concolino, Vanderbilt
No. 13 Whitney Wade, Georgia
No. 14 Taylor Leon, Georgia
No. 20 Sofie Andersson, California
No. 23 Marci Turner, Tennessee
No. 24 Onnarin Sattayabanphot, Purdue
No. 26 Chris Brady, Vanderbilt
No. 28 Leah Wigger, Virginia
No. 30 Jennie Lee, Duke
No. 31 Amanda Goins, Wake Forest
No. 32 Christina Boeljon, Purdue
No. 35 Mallory Hetzel, Georgia
No. 36 Pamela Lindberg, Oklahoma State
No. 37 Nanette Hill, Wake Forest
No. 40 Sophia Sheridan, California
No. 45 Candy Herrera, Oklahoma State
No. 50 Kathleen Ekey, Furman

*team and player rankings according to Golfweek.com

USC Lineup For The Bryan National Collegiate
1. Whitney Simons (Sophomore; Aiken, S.C.)
2. Jenna Pearson (Junior; Wheaton, Ill.)
3. Erica Battle (Senior; Irmo, S.C.)
4. Laura Raffo (Sophomore; Rio Cuarto, Argentina)
5. Blythe Worley (Greenville, N.C.)

Last Time Out – Liz Murphey Collegiate
A final-round push helped lift the South Carolina women’s golf team to a sixth-place finish among a loaded field at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic played at the University of Georgia Golf Course. The Gamecocks fired the third-lowest score of any team in Sunday’s final round and finished the tournament with a three-round score of 317-309-301=927 (+63), 24 strokes behind tournament-winner Georgia. Carolina finished ahead of such teams as No. 9 Arkansas, No. 11 Vanderbilt, No. 19 Ohio State and No. 25 Washington. The Gamecocks were led by Whitney Simons, who finished in a tie for 10th place on the individual leader board with a 76-75-74=225. Finishing at nine-over-par, Simons was only four strokes behind individual medalist Caroline Westrup of Florida State, who fired a 77-73-71=221 (+5). Simons’ performance was her best of the spring and marked her second top-10 finish of the 2005-06 season, as she finished in a tie for sixth at the Chrysler Invitational during the fall portion of the slate. Junior Jenna Pearson finished in a tie for 30th with a 77-79-77=233 (+17), but one of the biggest reasons for Carolina’s improvement to sixth place was the improved play of senior Erica Battle, who overcame a shaky first round to finish in a tie for 35th with an 84-77-73=234 (+18). Battle’s final-round 73 was the lowest score of any Carolina player in Sunday’s final round and was the eighth-lowest score of any player in the field on Sunday. It also marked her second-lowest round of the 2005-06 season.

Carolina At The Bryan National Collegiate
When the Gamecocks tee off at the Bryan National Collegiate this weekend, it will mark the fourth consecutive year that Carolina has competed at the tournament and it will be the fifth time in the last six years that the Gamecocks have been in the tournament field. Carolina finished 15th at last year’s Bryan National, but have finished as high as sixth place on the team leader board (2003). Here’s a closer look at last year’s performance at the Bryan National Collegiate:

Bryan National Collegiate (April 1-3, 2005)
Bryan Park Champions Course (Browns Summit, N.C.)
310-321-329=960 (15th place out of 17 teams)
Whitney Simons * 74-73-83=230 T27th
Erica Battle 76-84-78=238 T42nd
Tiffany Catafygiotu 75-80-83=238 T42nd
Caroline Rominger 80-78-81=239 T48th
Jenna Pearson 79-81-87=247 T69th
Laura Raffo 83-82-87=252 T76th

* competed as an individual (score did not count toward team total)

Carolina Has Bryan National Collegiate Veterans
A quartet of current Gamecocks have prior experience at the Bryan National Collegiate, as Erica Battle, Jenna Pearson, Laura Raffo and Whitney Simons have all played at the tournament. A look at their results:

Erica Battle (2005) 76-84-78=238 T42
Erica Battle (2004) 78-72-75=230 T39
Jenna Pearson (2005) 79-81-87=247 T69
Jenna Pearson (2004) 80-77-85=242 T76
Laura Raffo (2005) 83-82-87=252 T76
Whitney Simons (2005) 74-73-83=230 T27

Gamecocks Recognized As 2004-05 NGCA Team of the Year
With a cumulative team grade point average of 3.752 for the 2004-05 academic year, the South Carolina women’s golf team was announced as the inaugural recipient of the National Golf Coaches Association All-Scholar Team G.P.A. Award. Under head coach Kristi Coggins, academic excellence has become a staple of the Gamecock women’s golf program. The women’s golf team finished the 2004 fall semester with a 3.671 overall GPA, which marked the highest team GPA since the Carolina athletic department began charting the figure on team-by-team basis in 1996, then turned in a combined 3.832 GPA in the spring semester to shatter the record it had just set. For the second consecutive year, no school in the country placed more of its women’s golfers on the National Golf Coaches Association All-America Scholar-Athlete team than South Carolina, as six Gamecocks earned spots on the team in 2005. Erica Battle, Tiffany Catafygiotu, Jenna Pearson, Caroline Rominger, Whitney Simons and Blythe Worley were all recognized for their performance in the classroom.

What’s Next
South Carolina returns to action when it competes at the 2006 SEC Championships played at the par-72 Ironhorse Course at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Nashville from April 14-16. The Gamecocks finished seventh at last year’s SEC Championships, but won the event in 2002.