October 13, 2001

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –
The University of South Carolina women’s golf team carded a 318 team score Friday and stands in 13th place after the opening round of the Mercedes-Benz Women’s Championship at the Gettysvue Polo, Golf and Country Club. Top-ranked Duke fired a 293 and leads defending national champion Georgia by one stroke on the par 72, 5,985-yard course.

The second of three rounds in the invitational tournament gets underway at 8 a.m. Saturday.

South Carolina struggled for the first time this fall with all five of its team players carding scores of six-over 78 or higher. Defending SEC champion and first team All-American Kristy McPherson had a 10-over 82 and is tied for 61st place three weeks after winning the first tournament of the year – the SEC/ACC Challenge in Destin, Fla. Junior Kacy Thompson had a 78 Friday and is USC’s top player through 18 holes in 43rd place. Rounding out Carolina’s scoring five were sophomore Adrienne Gautreaux (79, T49th place), senior Reetta Laakkonen (79, T49th), junior McPherson (82, T61st) and sophomore Marci Robinson (83, T65th). Sophomore Kory Thompson is playing for individual medallist honors only, and she had the best round of any USC player, a three-over 75 to leave her in a tie for 15th place through 18 holes.

Duke had two of the top 10 players in the first round and has a five-over 293 team total after 18 holes, one stroke better than Georgia, which rode four Top 15 scorers to a 294. Purdue is in third place at 297 with three teams – Auburn, Louisiana State and Michigan State – tying for fourth place at 299. The Lady Gamecocks, at 318, is 25 strokes off Duke’s pace and 10 strokes out of the top ten after Friday’s competition.

Individually, Duke’s Leigh Ann Hardin had scores of 33-34 for a five-under 67 total to lead for medalist honors. Auburn’s Allison Fouch is in second place at three-under 69, while Georgia’s Summer Sirmons and Kingsley Barrett are tied for fourth place at two-under 70. Purdue’s Kari Damron rounds out the top five with a one-under 71 total.

Fin.   School                   Scores
  13   South Carolina, U of     318
T 43    Kacy Thompson            39- 39      78
T 49    Adrienne Gautreaux       39- 40      79
T 49    Reetta Laakkonen         39- 40      79
T 61    Kristy McPherson         42- 40      82
T 65    Marci Robinson           41- 42      83

Fin. Individuals School Scores
T 15 Kory Thompson S Carolina 36- 39 75

Mercedes-Benz Women’s Champion
Gettysvue Polo, Golf,& CCKnoxville, TN
Dates: 10/12 – 10/14 (Today:10-12-2001)
Par: 72
Yardage: 5985

Fin. School Scores

1 Duke University 293
1 Leigh Anne Hardin 34- 33 67
T 9 V. Nirapathpongporn 37- 36 73
T 27 Maria Garcia-Estrada 40- 36 76
T 34 Kristina Engstrom 39- 38 77
T 55 N. Aazam-Zanganeh 41- 39 80

2 Georgia, U. of 294
T 3 Summer Sirmons 35- 35 70
T 12 Angela Jerman 36- 38 74
T 15 Natilia Nicholls 38- 37 75
T 15 Whitney Christie 38- 37 75
T 27 Abbi Francis 39- 37 76

3 Purdue University 297
5 Kari Damron 39- 32 71
T 6 Caroline Laurens 35- 37 72
T 15 Beth Hermes 38- 37 75
T 49 Heather Zielinski 40- 39 79
T 59 Christy Rittenhouse 41- 40 81

T 4 Auburn University 299
T 9 Celeste Troche 35- 38 73
T 12 Courtney Swaim 39- 35 74
T 15 Anne Hutto 36- 39 75
T 34 Kimberly Strong 36- 41 77
T 59 Diana Ramage 39- 42 81

T 4 Louisiana State U. 299
T 9 Meredith Duncan 37- 36 73
T 15 Lindy Hitdlebaugh 38- 37 75
T 15 Brook Shelton 35- 40 75
T 27 Devon Day 39- 37 76
T 61 Isabel Dornellas 39- 43 82

T 4 Michigan State U. 299
2 Allison Fouch 33- 36 69
T 15 Emily Bastel 37- 38 75
T 34 Jessica Till 38- 39 77
T 43 Stacy Snider 35- 43 78
T 65 Ann Marie Kersten 44- 39 83

7 Tennessee, U. of 303
T 6 Tina Schneeberger 38- 34 72
T 15 Tai Perry 37- 38 75
T 27 Young-A Yang 37- 39 76
T 55 Jessica Shepley 40- 40 80
T 67 Carrie Cole 41- 43 84

8 Northwestern Univ. 304
T 12 Ina Kim 37- 37 74
T 27 Emily Gilley 39- 37 76
T 27 Elizabeth Burden 35- 41 76
T 43 Hana Kim 40- 38 78
T 43 Lauren Grzebien 41- 37 78

9 Memphis Univ of 307
T 15 Jennifer Jaszek 38- 37 75
T 27 Sandra Hellsvik 38- 38 76
T 34 Meaghan Francella 36- 41 77
T 49 Marianne Ruud 39- 40 79
74 Abby More 46- 43 89

10 Nevada, U. of 308
T 6 Alana Condon 34- 38 72
T 34 Meghan Ingalls 38- 39 77
T 49 Erin Long 40- 39 79
T 55 Chandeni Gill 40- 40 80
T 67 Jennie Peek 43- 41 84

11 Florida, U. of 311
T 34 Andrea Vander Lende 38- 39 77
T 34 Brittany Straza 39- 38 77
T 43 Jeanne Cho 38- 40 78
T 49 Amanda Dick 37- 42 79
T 61 Whitney Code 39- 43 82

12 Furman University 316
T 15 Leigh Turner 37- 38 75
T 34 Sarah Johnston 36- 41 77
T 55 Brandi Jackson 39- 41 80
T 67 Cimmie Shahan 42- 42 84
76 Tara Schultz 49- 42 91

13 South Carolina, U of 318
T 43 Kacy Thompson 39- 39 78
T 49 Adrienne Gautreaux 39- 40 79
T 49 Reetta Laakkonen 39- 40 79
T 61 Kristy McPherson 42- 40 82
T 65 Marci Robinson 41- 42 83

14 Alabama, U. of 322
T 15 Sarah Johnston 39- 36 75
T 34 Darby Sligh 35- 42 77
T 70 Jenny Bouvin 41- 44 85
T 70 Mandy Tedder 44- 41 85
73 Lacy Shelton 48- 40 88

Fin. Individuals School Scores

T 3 Kingsley Barrett Auburn 35- 35 70
T 15 Kory Thompson S Carolina 36- 39 75
T 43 Mary Jan Fernandez Tennessee 38- 40 78
T 61 Allison Akin Alabama 41- 41 82
72 Erin LaPlaunt Nevada 41- 45 86
75 Ryan Kirk Tennessee 46- 44 90