May 7, 2005

Gainesville, Fla. – The South Carolina women’s golf team saw its season come to an end on Saturday, as the Gamecocks finished in ninth place at the NCAA East Regional, played at the par-70 University of Florida Golf Course. Entering as the region’s 12th seed, Carolina finished higher than expected with a final team score of 293-307-303=903, a mark that was just three strokes higher than what was necessary to be one of the eight teams from the Regional to move on to the NCAA Championships.

Sophomore Jenna Pearson was Carolina’s top player at the Regional, carding a 70-77-72=219 to finish 14th on the individual leader board. Pearson played well Sunday, notching three birdies and achieving 12 pars. However, she found herself in a hole early when she double-bogeyed her first hole and her fifth hole to sit at four-over through her first five holes. She steadily recovered and carved her score down to one-over going into the last hole. Needing a birdie on her final hole to finish at even par for the second time this weekend, Pearson instead bogeyed the course’s par-four ninth hole to finish at two-over for the round.

Freshman Whitney Simons put a cap on a solid first season at the collegiate level by finishing 28th on the individual leader board with a 73-75-76=224. After providing the highlight of the year with a hole-in-one on Friday, Simons carded six bogeys and no birdies on Saturday.

Looking for a repeat showing of her performance at the Southeastern Conference Championships in which she carded a two-under 70 in the final round, junior Erica Battle instead struggled in Saturday’s final round to finish with a three-day score of 72-78-79=229. Battle finished with nine bogeys and no birdies on Saturday.

The freshman tandem of Caroline Rominger and Blythe Worley rounded out the Gamecock showing at the NCAA Regional with Rominger carding a three-day score of 81-77-77=235 and Worley finishing with a 78-81-78=237. Rominger battled inconsistency on the front nine, suffering through a double-bogey on her starting hole. She answered with a birdie on the next hole, but took another double on her sixth hole, which she countered again with another birdie on the following hole. Three consecutive bogeys on her 13th, 14th and 15th holes inflated Rominger’s score to five-over heading into her final hole, which she double-bogeyed.

The Gamecocks will compete next year with only one senior (Tiffany Catafygiotu) departing from this year’s roster.

Final Team Leader Board1   Ohio State  +16     F   285     280     291     8562   Duke    +22     F   292     283     287     8623   Furman University   +31     F   291     293     287     8714   Pepperdine  +34     F   294     291     289     8745   University of Virginia  +41     F   292     297     292     8816   Tulane University   +45     F   293     292     300     8857   Florida     +46     F   287     301     298     8868   Washington  +60     F   306     298     296     9009   South Carolina  +63     F   293     307     303     90310  Vanderbilt  +64     F   307     292     305     90411  Campbell University     +68     F   297     303     308     90812  Princeton University    +71     F   302     300     309     91113  Miami, U. of    +72     F   303     304     305     91214  North Carolina State    +75     F   319     299     297     91515  N. Car. Wilmington  +80     F   306     308     306     92016  Mississippi St. U.  +85     F   306     308     311     92517  East Carolina Univ.     +89     F   309     305     315     92918  James Madison Univ.     +92     F   309     317     306     93219  Coastal Carolina    +112    F   323     307     322     95220  Jacksonville St.    +120    F   325     315     320     96021  Jackson State Univ.     +150    F   328     332     330     990
Gamecocks On The Individual Leader Board14  Jenna Pearson South Carolina  +9  F   70  77  72  219T28 Whitney Simons   South Carolina  +14     F   73  75  76  224T51 Erica Battle   South Carolina  +19     F   72  78  79  229T77 Caroline Rominger South Carolina  +25     F   81  77  77  235T81 Blythe Worley South Carolina  +27     F   78  81  78  237