May 14, 2002

The 22nd-ranked University of South Carolina women’s golf team, after finishing sixth in the NCAA East Regional last weekend in Baton Rouge, La., now heads to the NCAA Championships, to be held May 21-24, at the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash.

This will be South Carolina’s seventh appearance ever in the NCAA Championships and the fifth in the eight-year tenure of Lady Gamecock Head Coach Kristi Coggins. Last year, South Carolina advanced to the finals at Howey-in-the-Hills, Fla., finishing 24th.

NCAA History

As previously mentioned, the Lady Gamecocks will be making their seventh appearance ever at the NCAA Championships. South Carolina is making back-to-back showings for just the second time in school history (USC did so in 1995 and 1996) and is heading to college golf’s elite event for the third time in the last four years. South Carolina’s top finish ever at the NCAAs was a ninth-place showing at the 1995 classic in Wilmington, N.C.

Carolina in the NCAA Championships

1987     Albuquerque, N.M. .......... 14th1993     Athens, Ga. ................ 12th1995     Wilmington, N.C. ........... T9th1996     Palm Springs, Calif.   ....... 14th1999     Tulsa, Okla. ............... 14th2001     Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla.   ... 24th2002     Auburn, Wash. ..............    ?

East Regional Recap

Despite a below-average performance from All-America Kristy McPherson, the South Carolina women’s golf team finished sixth in the NCAA East Regional in Baton Rouge, La., and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Adrienne Gautreaux led the way by finishing ninth individually, spurred by a career-low round of 69 in Friday’s second round. Carolina got consistent scoring from its entire lineup with Marci Robinson, Kacy Thompson and McPherson finishing three strokes apart at 224, 225 and 226, respectively. Senior Reetta Laakkonen finished tied for 70th place at 231. Carolina opened play Thursday in ninth place, but cut five strokes of its opening round of 298 and moved into sixth place with a five-over 293. The Lady Gamecocks matched their first round total on the final day and made the championships field by four strokes.

For the complete set of tournament notes in .pdf format, click on the NCAA Championships Notes link on the women’s golf page.