May 6, 2005

Gainesville, Fla. – Through the first two rounds at the 2005 NCAA East Regional Golf Championships played at the par-70 University of Florida Golf Course, the South Carolina women’s golf team stands in ninth place with a two-round team score of 293-307=600. Every team played 36 holes on Friday, as inclement weather on Thursday postponed the first round for a day.

Perhaps the biggest news of the day was that Gamecock freshman Whitney Simons (Aiken, S.C./Aiken HS) shot a hole-in-one on the course’s par-3 15th hole. Simons has become a key figure for Carolina all spring, and had the lowest score for any Gamecock at the 2005 Southeastern Conference Championships two weeks ago. As for Friday, Simons finished the day with a 73-75=148 to finish the second round standing in a tie for 24th place on the individual leader board.

The Gamecocks entered the weekend seeded 12th in the field. The top eight teams in each region advance to the NCAA Championships in Sunriver, Ore., from May 17-19. Through the first two rounds, Carolina is one stroke behind from eighth-place Vanderbilt, who carded a two-round team score of 307-292=599.

Sophomore Jenna Pearson (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South HS) led the way for South Carolina and is in a tie for 17th place with a two-round score of 70-77=147. Pearson’s first-round 70 was her best round since carding a 69 at the NCAA Fall Preview. After the first round, Pearson was in fourth place, shooting even par with three bogeys cancelled out by birdies on the course’s 12th, 18th and ninth holes. The second round was more challenging for Pearson, who suffered through two double-bogeys and four bogeys.

Junior Erica Battle (Columbia, S.C./Irmo HS) is in a tie for 32nd with a two-round score of 72-78=150. Battle was at even par through the first 16 holes of the first round, but bogeyed the last two. That finish carried over into the second round, as Battle finished the second round at eight-over par.

Usually-steady freshman Caroline Rominger struggled Friday, carding an 81-77=158. She double-bogeyed her first two holes, then took bogeys on four of the next five holes. She settled down to play better golf to finish out the first round. A slow start crippled Rominger in the second round as well, as she bogeyed six of her first seven holes. Though she cancelled two of them out with a pair of birdies, she closed her day with three consecutive bogeys.

Freshman Blythe Worley rounded out the Gamecock effort with a 78-81=159. Worley notched a birdie in each of her two rounds, but struggled for much of the rest of the day.

Final round action resumes tomorrow.

Team Leader Board1   Ohio State  +5  F   285     280     5652   Duke    +15     F   292     283     5753   Furman University   +22     F   291     291     582T4  Pepperdine  +25     F   294     291     585T4  Tulane University   +25     F   293     292     5856   Florida     +28     F   287     301     5887   University of Virginia  +29     F   292     297     5898   Vanderbilt  +39     F   307     292     599T9  Campbell University     +40     F   297     303     600T9  South Carolina  +40     F   293     307     60011  Princeton University    +42     F   302     300     60212  Washington  +44     F   306     298     60413  Miami, U. of    +47     F   303     304     607T14     East Carolina Univ.     +54     F   309     305     614T14     Mississippi St. U.  +54     F   306     308     614T14     N. Car. Wilmington  +54     F   306     308     61417  North Carolina State    +58     F   319     299     61818  James Madison Univ.     +66     F   309     317     62619  Coastal Carolina    +70     F   323     307     63020  Jacksonville St.    +80     F   325     315     64021  Jackson State Univ.     +100    F   328     332     660
Gamecocks On The Individual Leader BoardT17 Jenna Pearson South Carolina  +7  F   70  77  147T24 Whitney Simons   South Carolina  +8  F   73  75  148T32 Erica Battle   South Carolina  +10     F   72  78  150T81 Caroline Rominger South Carolina  +18     F   81  77  158T87 Blythe Worley South Carolina  +19     F   78  81  159