Feb. 7, 2004

The South Carolina women’s golf team returns to action next week at the ninth-annual Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. The event will be held at the par 71 Palos Verdes Golf Club (5,912 yards) in Palos Verdes, Calif. Competition will kick off at 9 a.m. Pacific time Monday and Tuesday with the final round Wednesday beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring and complete results will be availble online at www.golfstat.com with daily results posted here at uscsports.com.

This is the first time that the Gamecocks have participated in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. The USC lineup will feature:

1. Adrienne Gautreaux

2. Tiffany Catafygiotu

3. Erica Battle

4. Jenna Pearson

5. Kory Thompson

The field of 15 teams competing in the Regional Challenge this year include Arizona, Arizona State, California, Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, Stanford, South Carolina, Southern California, Texas, Tulsa and UCLA. Eleven of the 15 squads are currently ranked in the Top 25. UCLA is ranked the highest at No.2, followed by No. 5 California and No. 6 New Mexico. Oklahoma State and Florida are ranked No. 8 and 9, respecitvely, and the Buckeyes are ranked at No. 11. South Carolina holds a 29th ranking but is expected to move up in the spring after a sluggish fall season.

REGIONAL CHALLENGE HISTORY

Year   Champion     Score  Medalist             School        Score
1996   San Jose St.  878   Vibeke Stensrud      San Jose St.   213
1997   Stanford      905   Heather Bowie        Texas          219
1998   Tulsa         875   Filippa Helmersson   Tulsa          212
1999   Georgia       901   Jennifer Rosales     USC            216
2000   Arizona       869   Shuna Estes          Georgia        212
2001   Arizona       884   Natalie Gulbis       Arizona        214
2002   Tulsa         870   Lorena Ochoa         Arizona        206
2003*  Pepperdine    598   Katherine Hull       Pepperdine     144
*The final round was cancelled because of rain.