April 19, 2007

Complete Tournament Notes in PDF Format
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The Basics

The South Carolina women’s golf team is after its second Southeastern Conference title in the last six years when it heads to West Point, Miss., to compete at the 2007 SEC Championship played at the par-72, 6246-yard Old Waverly Golf Club from April 20-22.

The Gamecocks tee off Friday morning at 9:20 a.m. on the 10th hole. Hosted by Mississippi State, the tournament will be held at the same course that hosted the 1999 Women’s U.S. Open and the 2006 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.

How To Get Results

Live scoring will be kept throughout the tournament on www.golfstat.com, with results available at the end of each day on uscsports.com

South Carolina Lineup

Jenna Pearson (Sr.) 75.17 Stroke Average

Bénédicte Toumpsin (Fr.) 76.05 Stroke Average

Whitney Simons (Jr.) 78.21 Stroke Average

Camila Mori (Jr.) 77.57 Stroke Average

Blythe Worley (Jr.) 78.00 Stroke Average

SEC Championship Field

No. 3 Georgia, No. 5 Auburn, No. 7 Vanderbilt, No. 10 Florida, No. 13 Tennessee, No. 24 Arkansas, No. 25 LSU, No. 26 Alabama, No. 28 South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss

Carolina At The SEC Championship – A Brief History

South Carolina won the 2002 SEC Championship and has finished in the top four of the conference in three of the last six years, tying for third in 2001 and finishing fourth in 2003. Kristy McPherson earned individual medalist honors in 2001, then repeated the feat in 2002. In addition to McPherson’s back-to-back titles, both McPherson and Adrienne Gautreaux posted top-10 finishes in 2003, with McPherson coming in third and Gautreaux tying for eighth.

The Gamecocks have had some near-misses at the SEC Championship, as the team finished second at the event in 1995 and tied for third in 1996 and 2001. Carolina also posted third-place finishes in 1992 and 1993. Carolina has also fared well on the individual leader board at the SEC Championship, with McPherson’s efforts leading the way, but Siew Ai Lim (tied for second in 1996 and fifth in 1995), Clarissa Childs (tied for third in 1995) and Vikki Valentine (fifth in 1992) also turned in top-five finishes at the event during their respective careers. Here’s a closer look at last year’s performance at the SEC Championship:

2006 SEC Championship (April 14-16, 2006)

Ironhorse Course At Vanderbilt Legends Course (Nashville, Tenn.)

310-293-300=903 (8th place out of 12 teams)

Jenna Pearson 75-74-72=221 T7

Whitney Simons 75-73-75=223 T16

Erica Battle 79-73-78=230 T35

Blythe Worley 84-73-75=232 T41

Laura Raffo 81-81-78=240 T53

Gamecocks in Top 100

Senior Jenna Pearson remains in the Top 100 for the fifth consecutive week. Pearson jumped 13 spots since the last poll as she returns to the Top 50 for the first time since the fall season. She peaked at No. 36 earlier this season prior the Lady Puerto Rico Classic the week of October 6.

Freshman Bénédicte Toumpsin returns to the individual national rankings at No. 98, her first appearance in the GolfWeek poll since the week of October 27. Toumpsin peaked at No. 28 in the second week of the fall season.