March 15, 2002

BLYTHEWOOD, SC –
South Carolina sophomore Adrienne Gautreaux fired a one-under 71 is in a five-way tie for first place, while the Lady Gamecocks are in a tie for third after one round of the Lady Gamecock Classic at the University Club. Eighth-ranked Texas posted an even-par 288 and leads No. 3 Duke by two strokes and Carolina and No. 4 Tennessee by seven strokes on the par 72, 5,996-yard course.

The second of three rounds gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday on both the No. 1 and No. 10 tees. Host South Carolina will start at 8:50 a.m. off the No. 1 tee.

Beautiful weather with temperatures around 80 degrees helped to keep scores low as six teams finished the day with sub-300 scores. Eleven individuals shot at par or better with an amazing 30 golfers posting scores of 75 or better. This year’s Lady Gamecock Classic features the best field in the history of the event as nine of the nation’s Top 25 teams and eight of the top 19 golfers are participating in the event.

Texas counted a high score of 73 and raced to the even-par 288 team total through one day of competition. Duke is two strokes back at two-over 290, while South Carolina and Tennessee are tied for third at 295. Tenth-ranked Vanderbilt and No. 21 Purdue are tied for fifth place at 296. South Carolina, ranked 33rd in the latest Sagarin/Golfweek national rankings, is ahead of six teams in the Top 25 after 18 holes.

South Carolina had one of its best opening days of the tournament with its third-place showing. Lady Gamecock sophomore Adrienne Gautreaux had her best relation-to-par score of her USC career with a one-under 71, to forge a five-way tie for first place. Carolina junior All-American Kristy McPherson had an even-par 72 and is in a six-way tie for sixth place. Senior Reetta Laakkonen, playing in USC’s No. 5 slot, had her best collegiate round with a one-over 73 and is in a seven-way tie for 12th place, two strokes out of first. Rounding out USC’s team scorers were sophomore Marci Robinson (79, 51st place) and junior Kacy Thompson (82, 65th). USC freshman Tiffany Catafygiotu (80, 57th) and sophomore Kory Thompson (83, 68th) played for individual honors only.

In the individual competition, Gautreaux is tied with Duke’s Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh, Texas’ Janice Olivencia and Tennessee’s Jessica Shepley and Young-A Yang. Aazam-Zanganeh forged the five-way tie by posting a birdie on the final hole, a par 5, 441-yard layout. The remaining four individuals tied for first each posted a par of 5.

T 3 South Carolina, U of 295
T 1 Adrienne Gautreaux 36- 35 71
T 6 Kristy McPherson 36- 36 72
T 12 Reetta Laakkonen 37- 36 73
T 51 Marci Robinson 35- 44 79
T 65 Kacy Thompson 43- 39 82

Individual Competition Only
T 57 Tiffany Catafygiotu 38- 42 80
T 68 Kory Thompson 40- 43 83