April 25, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – For the 10th time in 11 years under head coach Kristi Coggins, the South Carolina women’s golf team is in the field for the NCAA Regional Championships. The Gamecocks will travel to Gainesville, Fla., and will compete from May 5-7 as the 12th seed in the East Region.

There are three regions (East, Central and West), with the top eight teams from each region moving on to the NCAA Championships. In addition, the top two individual finishers from each region also move on to the NCAA Championships. Under Coggins, the Gamecocks have advanced to the NCAA Championships six times, and three times in the last four years.

“I feel good about the field in the East Regional and I am confident that we will play the course well,” Coggins said. “We have good experience on it and I feel like we are peaking at the right time. The youth on our team can produce some surprises and I expect us to play aggressive and intelligent golf.”

Carolina finished seventh at the 2005 Southeastern Conference Championships and had the fifth-highest strength of schedule of any team in the country. According to the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, only Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt played more difficult schedules this year. Of the 12 teams in the SEC, nine will compete at the NCAA Regionals.

Junior Erica Battle (Columbia, S.C./Irmo) owns the lowest stroke average of any player on the Carolina roster this year and comes into regional play on the heels of a final-round 70 at the SEC Championships that was highlighted by an eagle. Freshman Caroline Rominger (Pontresina, Switzerland) has also been a key figure the Gamecocks and finished third at the Lady Gamecock Classic. Fellow freshman Whitney Simons (Aiken, S.C./Aiken) was South Carolina’s top performer at the SEC Championships, finishing 12th with a three-day score of 76-73-78=278.

Sophomore Jenna Pearson (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) is the only Gamecock to have competed in every tournament this year, and turned in the lowest round for any Carolina player when she carded a 69 in the first round of the NCAA Fall Preview.

One of the fiercest competitors on the team, freshman Blythe Worley (Greenville, N.C./J.H. Rose HS) will round out the Gamecock lineup for NCAA Regionals.

East Region (By Seed)
1.   Duke2.  Pepperdine3.  Washington4.  Ohio State5.  Florida6.  Tulane7.  Furman8.  Virginia9.  UNC-Wilmington10. Mississippi State11. North Carolina State12.   South Carolina13. Vanderbilt14. Miami (Fla.)15. East Carolina16. Coastal Carolina17. Princeton18. James Madison19. Jackson State20. Jacksonville State21. Campbell
Central Region (By Seed)
1.   Auburn2.  Arizona State3.  New Mexico4.  LSU5.  Wake Forest6.  Texas7.  Missouri8.  Arkansas9.  Michigan10. Tulsa11. TCU12. SMU13. Purdue14. Michigan State15. Kent State16. Baylor17. Texas A&M18. South Florida19. Texas Tech20. Notre Dame21. Long Island
West Region (By Seed)
1.   UCLA2.  Georgia3.  Oklahoma State4.  Tennessee5.  Southern California6.  Arizona7.  California8.  Washington State9.  Stanford10. UNLV11. Oregon12. San Francisco13. UC Irvine14. BYU15. Colorado16. Portland State17. Northwestern18. Oral Roberts19. Illinois State20. Georgia State21. Denver