Gamecocks Stumble in NCAA Championship Opening Round

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.  –  The South Carolina women’s golf team could not overcome the windy conditions at Grayhawk Golf Club, carding a 24-over in the opening round of the NCAA Championship on Friday. 

“Definitely not the start we were looking for,” head coach Kalen Anderson said after the round. “There’s a lot of golf ahead of us. We’re going to have to play with a lot more firepower tomorrow. The windy conditions got us and confused us a little bit today and we had a few bad breaks. We have an early tee time tomorrow, we’re going to get after it and dig ourselves out of this hole. We’re ready to go tomorrow.”

Freshman Paula Kirner was the bright spot in the Carolina lineup on Friday, going even with a 72, tied for fifth over and three strokes off the lead. Kirner started her day with a birdie on 10, and after stumbling with bogeys on 16, 17 and one, righted the ship with a birdie on four and another on seven to head into the clubhouse even for the day. 

The Gamecocks tee off for the second round at 9:30 a.m. ET, 6:30 a.m. local time, on Saturday. 
 

NCAA Championship Leaderboard – Round One

1. Texas – 289 (+1) 
2. Oregon – 290 (+2)
3. Stanford – 291 (+3)
T4. Arizona – 292 (+4)
T4. Kent State – 292 (+4)
T4. Duke – 292 (+4)
T4. Wake Forest – 292 (+4)
T8. LSU – 296 (+8) 
T8. Ole Miss – 296 (+8)
10. Oklahoma State – 297 (+9)
11. Florida State – 298 (+10) 
12. Kentucky – 299 (+11)
13. Arizona State – 300 (+12) 
14. Michigan State – 301 (+13) 
T15. Virginia Tech – 302 (+14) 
T15. UCLA – 302 (+14) 
17. Michigan – 304 (+16)
18. Auburn – 305 (+17) 
19. Maryland – 306 (+18) 
T20. Georgia – 307 (+19)
T20. Southern California – 307 (+19) 
T22. Alabama – 308 (+20) 
T22. Baylor – 308 (+20)
24. South Carolina – 312 (+24)

Gamecock Leaderboard

T5. Paula Kirner – 72 (E)
T74. Ana Pelaez – 76 (+4)
T120. Pauline Roussin-Bouchard – 81 (+9)
T126. Mathilde Claisse – 83 (+11)
131. Lois Kaye Go – 87 (+15)