Sept. 22, 2016

A Look At Last Season
South Carolina’s postseason success under head coach Kalen Anderson continued last season with a seventh-place finish at the 2016 NCAA Championship. The Gamecocks qualified for match play at the tournament for the first time in school history, and their finish marked the program’s second-best showing. They fell to Stanford 3-2 in the match-play quarterfinals in what was the 16^th NCAA Championship appearance for South Carolina, one of five schools to qualify for the event in each of the last seven years.

The strong showing at Eugene Country Club in Oregon was jumpstarted by Carolina’s 2016 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional title, the school’s fourth regional championship in the last seven years. The Gamecocks shared first-place honors with Florida after posting a 54-hole score of 857 (-7). Junior Katelyn Dambaugh earned her first collegiate medalist honors at the tournament, matching South Carolina’s low 54-hole individual score (207, -9), while two other Gamecocks, senior Sarah Schmelzel and freshman Marion Veysseyre, earned top-20 showings.

After not producing a top-five finish last fall, South Carolina returned to form in the spring. The Gamecocks opened 2016 with runner-up honors at the FSU Match-Up, and they saw another second-place finish in their regular season finale, the Bryan National Collegiate. At the 2016 SEC Championship, South Carolina placed fifth behind another strong performance from Dambaugh. She posted a final-round 66 (-6) to grab runner-up honors, and her 54-hole score of 209 (-7) fell two strokes short of the league championship record.

Dambaugh and Schmelzel garnered national honors, as South Carolina boasted multiple All-Americans for the third-straight season. Dambaugh was tabbed a First-Team All-American by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) and Golfweek, which awarded Schmelzel All-America Honorable Mention accolades. Schmelzel, who became the eighth golfer in school history to be named an All-American, finished her time at South Carolina with the school’s fourth-lowest career scoring average (74.25).

2016 Fall Schedule

• ANNIKA Intercollegiate (Sept. 25-27 | Watson Course | Reunion, Fla.)
• Cougar Classic (Oct. 2-4 | Yeamans Hall Club | Charleston, S.C.)
• Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational (Oct. 14-16 | Finley Golf Course | Chapel Hill, N.C.)
• Landfall Tradition (Oct. 28-30 | Pete Dye Course | Wilmington, N.C.)

From The Coach
“We’re just ready to get out there and compete and see where we’re at. Practice was good, they’ve been really responsive. We’re a little bit young, but at the same time we have a lot of depth this year. More depth than probably we’ve ever had.” – Kalen Anderson

The Returnees
Gaby Amos (Sophomore | Gainesville, Fla.)

• Competed for South Carolina in three tournaments last season
• Finished her first year with a 79.44 stroke average
• Made her collegiate debut at the 2015 Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational
• Carded one round under par at the Tar Heel Invitational, posting a final-round 71 (-1)
• Competed as an individual at the 2016 Landfall Tradition

Katelyn Dambaugh (Senior | Goose Creek, S.C.)

• Competed in all 11 tournament as a junior
• Her 71.62 stroke average, the lowest single-season scoring mark in program history, ranked second in Division I
• Set the school record for most top-five finishes by a junior (6)
• Tabbed a runner-up for the 2016 ANNIKA Award in addition to her two All-America honors
• Totaled six top-three finishes, including four runner-up honors and the 2016 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional individual title
• Earned All-SEC honors for the third-straight year this past spring after being named to the league’s First Team
• Enters her final season at South Carolina ranked first in career scoring average (72.96) and second in career top-five finishes (10)

Marianna Monaco (Senior | Yonkers, N.Y.)

• Appeared in two tournaments after joining the team in the spring
• Finished with a 77.17 scoring average
• Made her debut for the Gamecocks at the 2016 Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, where she posted a 234 (+21)
• Fired a career-low 73 (+1) in the second round of the Wildcat Invitational
• Named to the 2016 SEC All-Community Service Team

Isidora Nilsson (Sophomore | Hilton Head Island, S.C.)

• Played in seven tournaments in her first season at South Carolina
• Sported a 77.43 stroke average last year, the second-lowest mark among freshmen
• Carded a career-low 70 (-2) in the second round of the 2015 Mason Rudolph Championship, her first collegiate tournament
• Notched her best career finish at the 2016 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional, placing in a tie for 30^th
• Was one of two freshmen to compete at the 2016 NCAA Championship

Ainhoa Olarra (Junior | San Sebastian, Spain)

• Appeared in all of South Carolina’s 11 events as a sophomore
• Ranked third on the team last season in stroke average (74.38)
• Totaled four top-20 finishes and two top-10 showings in 2015-16
• Fired a career-low 69 (-3) in the opening round of the SEC Championship and ended her weekend with a 217 (+1), her lowest 54-hole total ever for the Gamecocks
• Ended her sophomore campaign with top-20 finishes in three of her last four tournaments
• Broke par in two of her four stroke-play rounds at the 2016 NCAA Championship, and she was one of two Gamecocks to earn a point in match play

Marion Veysseyre (Sophomore | Lachapelle-Auzac, France)

• Played in all seven spring tournaments after joining the team in 2016
• Led all freshmen and ranked fourth on the team with a 76.82 stroke average
• Found her stroke during the NCAA postseason, earning a tie for 19^th at the 2016 Baton Rouge Regional with a career-low 219 (+3)
• Carded a 72 (+2) in each of the last two stroke-play rounds at the 2016 NCAA Championship
• Took four-time All-American Mariah Stackhouse of Stanford to the final hole in her NCAA Championship Quarterfinal match before falling, 1-down

Jia Xin Yang (Senior | Beijing, China)

• Competed in seven of South Carolina’s 11 events last season as a junior
• Ended her third year with a 77.64 stroke average
• Her best showing in her junior season came at the 2016 Wildcat Invitational, where she placed in a tie for 22^nd (221, +5) while competing as an individual
• Made her second-straight appearance at the SEC Championship, placing in a tie for 66^th with a 54-hole total of 236 (+23)

The Newcomers

Ana Pelaez (Freshman | Malaga, Spain)

• Enters South Carolina ranked No. 30 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings
• Was the 2015 ANNIKA Invitational Europe Individual Champion
• Led Spain to a European Girls’ Team Championship title in 2015
• Was a member of the European Ping Junior Solheim Cup Team in 2015

Taylor Rajeski (Freshman | Viera, Fla.)

• Tabbed Florida Today’s 2015 Golfer of the Year
• Led Viera High School to the Class 3A Girls State Championship in 2014, placing fifth individually at the event
• Earned runner-up honors at the 2015 District 16-3A regional golf tournament

Anita Uwadia (Freshman | Okoko, Nigeria)

• Reached match play at the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur after opening the tournament wit a 69 (-2)
• Competed in the British Girls’ Open in 2012 and 2014
• Played in the 2014 USGA Girl’s Junior Championship