Sept. 29, 2015

REUNION, Fla. ââ’¬” South Carolina women’s golfer Katelyn Dambaugh took home third place at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate in Reunion, Fla., after firing a 71 (-1) on the final day of the event for a three-day score of 65-71-71=207 (-9). As a team, the Gamecocks finished 8-over at the tournament, taking home ninth-place in an elite field that contained the top 11 teams from Golfweek’s 2014-15 final rankings.

Senior Sarah Schmelzel (T7) joined Dambaugh in the top 10 as she recorded a three-day score of 70-69-71=210 (-6). Schmelzel and Dambaugh were under-par on all three days of the event. South Carolina was one of only three teams with two or more golfers finishing in the top 10 on the leaderboard.

Sophomore Ainhoa Olarra finished strong, posting a 1-over 73 on Tuesday, her best round of the event. She turned in a three-day total of 74-77-73=224 (+8) to finish in the top 50. Freshman Isi Nilsson finished the tournament at +18 while junior Jia Xin Yang was +20.

Southern California claimed the team title. It held a 17-stroke lead entering the final day and shot a 281 (-7) in its final round to finish 23 strokes ahead of second-place Arizona (-13). Arkansas (-10) settled for third.

QUOTABLE
South Carolina Head Coach Kalen Anderson
“I was very happy with the way we battled through rainy weather today. Katelyn, Sarah and Ainhoa all had excellent rounds today. Katelyn made a strong run for the individual title and had a big week. I’m very proud of the tournament Sarah had with three under-par rounds and a top-10 finish. This field was the top 11-ranked teams from last year’s national rankings, so overall several positives to take away from this week early in the season.”

UP NEXT
The Gamecocks travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to compete at the Ruth’s Chris Invitational, formerly the Tar Heel Invitational, at the UNC Finley Golf Course Oct. 10-12.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
3. Katelyn Dambaugh 65-71-71=207 (-9)
T7. Sarah Schmelzel 70-69-71=210 (-6)
T47. Ainhoa Olarra 74-77-73 (+8)
57. Isidora Nilsson 80-76-78 (+18)
58. Jia Xin Yang 77-77-82 (+20)

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Southern California 276-271-281=828 (-36)
2. Arizona 286-281-284=851 (-13)
3. Arkansas 284-286-284= 854 (-10)
4. Duke 277-291-288=856 (-8)
5. Texas A&M 278-286=859 (-5)
6. UCLA 286-292-284=862 (-2)
7. Tennessee 284-288-291=863 (-1)
8. Washington 291-290-284=865 (+1)
9. South Carolina 286-293-293=872 (+8)
10. Stanford 289-287-297=873 (+9)
11. LSU 291-292-297=880 (+16)
12. UCF 290-294-302=886 (+22)