April 29, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s golf team has been selected to play in the NCAA West Regional on May 9-11, the NCAA announced Monday night. The 54-hole event will be held at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif.

The Gamecocks, who are making their 15th-straight regional appearance, received the No. 12 seed and will compete for the program’s third regional title and a berth to the NCAA Championship against a field of 24 teams. Six individuals have also been selected to play for medalist honors. Eight teams and two individuals from each of the three regional sites will advance to the NCAA Championship.

“We are excited about our regional selection,” said South Carolina head coach Kalen Harris, whose team is ranked No. 37 in the Golfstat NCAA Head-to-Head Rankings. “We go into regionals with momentum from our third-place finish at the SEC Championship. Every team seems to play their best golf at regionals, so we will have to do the same. Our preparation continues with short-game practice and playing and focusing on individual needs throughout the week. The Gamecocks look forward to competing next week.

“We have had success in the West Regional before, and a few of our players have had the experience playing the Stanford University Golf Course. The course is a true test of golf and should provide eight solid teams qualifying out of the West Regional.”

Carolina is one of 13 SEC programs to receive a regional bid and one of four in the West Regional. Of the 24 teams in the regional, 15 are ranked in the Golfstat Top 50, including top-ranked Southern California, No. 6 Arizona, No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 15 Purdue, No. 13 Stanford, No. 16 Georgia, No. 19 Baylor, No. 27 Texas A&M, No. 25 Pepperdine, No. 30 LSU, No. 32 Denver, No. 36 Ohio State, No. 40 Virginia and No. 43 UNLV. California, Florida State, Miami, San Jose State, Harvard, Kent State, Northern Arizona, North Dakota State and Long Island round out the field.

The Gamecocks will enter the regional with plenty of momentum after finishing third at the SEC Championship last Sunday in extremely challenging conditions and against a field that included 11 teams ranked in the Golfstat Top 50.

Under Harris’ guidance the Gamecocks have a strong history at regionals, winning the program’s first-ever regional title in 2010 at the East Regional in Greenville, N.C., and leading wire-to-wire to win last year’s East Regional in State College, Pa.

This year marks the 20th overall NCAA Regional appearance for the Gamecocks. Carolina has advanced to the NCAA Championship 12 times, including four during Harris’ tenure. Of the Gamecocks’ previous 19 trips to regionals, 18 have been to the East Regional and one to the West Regional in 2011.

2012 NCAA WEST REGIONALMay 9-11 - Stanford Golf Course - Stanford, Calif.1. Southern California2. Arizona3. Vanderbilt4. Purdue5. Stanford6. Georgia7. Baylor8. Texas A&M9. Pepperdine10. LSU11. Denver12. South Carolina13. Ohio State14. Oregon15. UNLV16. California17. Florida State18. Miami (Fla.)19. San Jose State20. Harvard21. Kent State22. Northern Arizona23. North Dakota State24. Long Island
IndividualsLaura Wearn, FurmanJennifer Coleman, ColoradoSammi Stevens, New MexicoA Ram Choi, Portland StateLuciane Lee, UC IrvineMichelle Park, UC Irvine