Oct. 14, 2001

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. –
The University of South Carolina women’s golf team shot a 334 Sunday for a three day total of 962, finishing in 13th place at the Mercedes-Benz Women’s Championship at the Gettysvue Polo, Golf and Country Club. Purdue carded a final round of 305 and overtook defending national champion Georgia and top-ranked Duke to win the tournament.

All of the teams struggled Sunday with high winds, and Carolina had four out of its five team players carding scores of 12-over-par 84 or higher. After struggling in the opening round, USC All-American junior Kristy McPherson shot a second round of 72 and a final round of 74 to jump from a tie for 61st to finish for a tie of 14th (228). McPherson had the lowest combined round two and three total (146) in the tournament.

Rounding out Carolina’s scoring five were sophomore Adrienne Gautreaux (84 Sunday, 243 total, T51st place), senior Reetta Laakkonen (88, 245, T55th), junior Kacy Thompson (88, 246,T59th) and sophomore Marci Robinson (89,252, T67th). Sophomore Kory Thompson finished third in the individual medalist competition (T38 overall) with a round of 80 finishing 20-over par (236).

Purdue had two players finish in the top five to lead the Boilermakers to a first place finish with a score of 902, five strokes ahead of Auburn who carded a 310 in its final round. Duke shot a 315 and Georgia shot a 316, each finishing in a tie for third with a overall score of 910. Tennesse wrapped up the top five with a final round of 314 and a total score of 917. The Lady Gamecocks, at 962, finished 14 shots back of a top 10 finish.

Purdue not only won the team competition, but also had the tournament’s top finisher. Kari Damron shot a final round of even-par 72 (217 overall) to finish three strokes ahead of first and second round leader Leigh Anne Hardin of Duke. Georgia had two of its players tie for third carding a 221 for the tournament with Angela Jerman shooting a final round of 75 and Summer Sirmons shot a 76 Sunday. Purdue’s Caroline Laurens finished fifth with a final round of 74 and a total of 222 to round out the top five.

Carolina returns to action in two weeks at the Lady Paladin Invitational, Oct. 26-28, in Greenville, S.C.

Fin.	School		Scores
  13	South Carolina	318-310-334	      962
T14	 Kristy McPherson	  82-72-74	     228
T51	 Adrienne Gautreaux	79-80-84	243
T55	 Reetta Laakkonen		79-78-88	245
T59	 Kacy Thompson	   78-80-88	      246
T67	 Marci Robinson	     83-80-89	      252

Fin. Individuals School Scores
T38 Kory Thompson S Carolina 75-81-80 236

Mercedes-Benz Women’s Championship
Gettysvue Polo, Golf, & Country Club
Knoxville, Tenn.

Fin. School Scores

1 Purdue University 297-300-305 902
1 Kari Damron 71-74-72 217
5 Caroline Laurnes 72-76-74 222
T23 Beth Hermes 75-75-80 230
T31 Heather Zielinski 79-75-79 233
T73 Christy Rittenhouse 81-92-86 264

2 Auburn University 299-298-310 907
7 Celeste Troche 73-74-77 224
T9 Annne Hutto 75-74-77 226
T18 Courtney Swaim 74-74-81 229
T29 Diana Ramage 81-76-75 232
54 Kimberly Strong 77-85-82 244

T3 Duke University 293-302-315 910
2 Leigh Anne Hardin 67-77-76 220
6 Virada Nirapathpongporn 73-75-75 223
T29 Maria Garcia-Estrada 76-77-79 232
T44 Niloufar Aazam-Zanganeh 80-73-85 238
T55 Jennifer Jaszek 75-85-83 243

T3 Georgia, U. of 294-300-316 910
T3 Angela Jerman 74-72-75 221
T3 Summer Sirmons 70-75-76 221
T31 Whitney Christie 75-77-81 233
T34 Natalia Nicholls 75-76-84 235
66 Abbi Francis 76-81-94 251

5 Tennessee, U. of 303-300-314 917
T9 Tina Schneeberger 72-73-81 226
T9 Young-A Yang 76-72-78 226
T18 Jessica Shepley 80-72-77 229
T38 Tia Perry 75-83-78 236
69 Carrie Cole 84-83-86 253

6 Northwestern Univ. 304-303-317 924
T14 Hana Kim 78-71-79 228
T18 Emily Gilley 76-77-76 229
T18 Ina Kim 74-75-80 229
T44 Elizabeth Burden 76-80-82 238
T55 Lauren Grzebien 78-81-86 245

7 Florida, U. of 311-293-321 925
T18 Jeanne Cho 78-73-78 229
28 Brittany Straza 77-75-79 231
T34 Whitney Code 82-73-83 235
T34 Amanda Dick 79-75-81 235
T44 Andrea Vander Lenda 77-77-84 238

8 Louisiana State U. 299-306-323 928
T9 Brook Shelton 75-72-79 226
T23 Meredith Duncan 72-75-82 230
T34 Lindy Hitdlebaugh 75-77-83 235
T51 Isabel Dornellas 82-82-79 243
61 Devon Day 76-82-89 247

9 Michigan State U. 299-310-321 930
T14 Allison Fouch 69-79-80 228
T23 Emily Bastel 75-76-79 230
T44 Jessica Till 77-79-82 238
T49 Stacy Snider 78-83-80 241
T67 Ann Marie Kersten 83-76-93 252

10 Memphis U. of 307-318-323 948
T14 Meaghan Francella 77-74-77 228
T38 Marianne Ruud 79-77-80 236
T51 Jennifer Jaszek 75-85-83 243
T55 Sandra Hellsvik 76-86-83 245
71 Abby More 89-82-86 257

11 Furman University 316-308-330 954
T23 Leigh Turner 75-77-78 230
T42 Sarah johnston 77-78-82 237
48 Brandi Jackson 80-76-84 240
62 Cimmie Shahan 84-77-87 248
75 Tara Schultz 91-87-86 264

12 Nevada, U. of 308-320-329 957
33 Meghan Ingalls 77-79-78 234
T42 Alana Conden 72-81-84 237
T49 Chandeni Gill 80-79-82 241
T63 Erin Long 79-83-88 250
T63 Jennie Peek 84-81-85 250

13 South Carolina, U of 318-310-334 962
T14 Kristy McPherson 82-72-74 228
T51 Adrienne Gautreaux 79-80-84 243
T55 Reetta Laakkonen 79-78-88 245
T59 Kacy Thompson 78-80-88 246
T67 Marci Robinson 83-80-89 252

14 Alabama, U. of 322-316-325 963
8 Sarah Johnston 75-73-77 225
T38 Darby Sligh 77-81-78 236
T59 Lacy Shelton 88-82-80 250
70 Jenny Bouvin 85-80-91 256
72 Mandy Tedder 85-83-90 258

Fin. Individuals School Scores
T9 Kingsley Barrett Auburn 70-79-77 226
T23 Mary Jan Fernandez Tennessee 78-75-77 230
T38 Kory Thompson S Carolina 75-81-80 236
T59 Allison Akin Alabama 82-75-89 246
W Erin LaPlaunt Nevada 86-91-W W