Sept. 7, 2007

COLUMBIA – South Carolina women’s golf opens its 2007-08 campaign at the Cougar Classic Sept. 9-11. Hosted by College of Charleston, the tournament at Yeamans Hall Golf Club in Hanahan, S.C. features three teams ranked in the preseason top 20. The Gamecocks are just outside the top 25 among 16 other schools receiving votes in the Golf World/NGCA Coaches Poll. Tee times for Sunday and Monday begin at 7:40 a.m. The final round on Tuesday is a shotgun start at 9 a.m.

Head coach Kristi Coggins takes an experienced group to the season’s first event with senior Blythe Worley leading the way in qualifying. Behind Worley are sophomores Bénédicte Toumpsin and Taylor Barrett, freshman Erika Holmen and fellow senior Whitney Simons. Three of the four returning players on the list are looking to pick up where they left off at the NCAA East Regional. Toumpsin carded the program’s fourth-lowest postseason 54-hole score in the team’s final outing in 2006-07, while Worley and Simons posted their career and season bests, respectively, at the event.

“I feel great about the team this season and at this tournament,” Coggins said. “The depth of scoring the players showed in their qualifying rounds was solid, and our team total was -2. With a start like that, we should be able to consistently shoot under par in our tournaments this year.”

The field at the Cougar Classic will be competitive with Tennessee (#12), North Carolina (#17) and Texas A&M (#20) drawing preseason rankings. Additionally, last year’s tournament champion Florida State brings junior Carolina Westrup, who is ranked fifth on Golf Digest’s Female Players to Watch list, and Tar Heel junior Lauren Hunt will be back to defend her individual title. Rounding out the 20-team field are Alabama, Furman, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Mississippi, Mississippi State, N.C. State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Richmond, South Florida, Texas and UNC Greensboro.