Sept. 11, 2007

HANAHAN, S.C. – Sophomore Bénédicte Toumpsin picked up right where she left off last season, finishing fourth at the Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall Golf Club, as South Carolina rallied on Tuesday to finish tied for sixth place. The Gamecocks’ top finisher was rock-solid in the tournament, sandwiching a second-round 73 between 71s in the first and last rounds to finish the tournament at 215 (-1).

Toumpsin made her moves on the par 4s, leading the field with a one-under average on those holes. She also finished tied for first with 14 birdies in the three-round event.

Senior Whitney Simons finished 35th in the tournament after opening with a career-best 70 on Sunday. She struggled Monday, however, carding a 79, before closing with a 75 for a three-round total of 224 (+8). Senior Blythe Worley was close on Simons’ heels at 226 (+10), shooting 77, 74 and 75 to finish in 46th.

Freshman Erika Holmen made her Gamecock debut and started off like gangbusters with 73 and 74 in the first two rounds. A third-round 81 set her back to 54th position in the 102-golfer field. Sophomore Taylor Bennett closed out the South Carolina team with a three-round 233 (77-77-79) for 67th place.

The Gamecocks tied for sixth with North Carolina at 889 for the tournament (291-298-300). Notre Dame overcame a three-stroke deficit in the final round to take the team title from Tennessee by one stroke (870). The Fighting Irish claimed the tournament on the backs of the top two individual finishers. Lisa Maunu was the individual medalist at 210 (-6), while teammate So-Hyun Park took second at 213 (-3). While fellow Southeastern Conference teams Alabama (3rd) and LSU (5th) finished ahead of South Carolina, the Gamecocks topped both Mississippi State (12th) and Mississippi (18th).

South Carolina has little rest before its next outing as the Gamecocks head back out to the Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn., which begins on Fri., Sept. 14.

FINAL TEAM SCORES
1 Notre Dame 287-292-291=870 (+6)
2 Tennessee 288-288-295=871 (+7)
T3 Alabama 286-298-291=875 (+11)
T3 Texas 288-293-294=875 (+11)
5 Louisiana State 286-299-298=883 (+19)
T6 North Carolina 295-291-303=889 (+25)
T6 South Carolina 291-298-300=889 (+25)
8 Florida State 292-299-299=890 (+26)
9 North Carolina State 294-291-307=892 (+28)
10 Furman 301-295-297=893 (+29)
11 Texas A&M 297-299-301=897 (+33)
12 Mississippi St. 299-303-298=900 (+36)
13 Maryland 304-303-300=907 (+43)
14 Miami 297-301-312=910 (+46)
T15 Coll. of Charleston 301-303-308=912 (+48)
T15 South Florida 299-300-313=912 (+48)
17 UNC Greensboro 303-303-316=922 (+58)
18 Mississippi 306-311-308=925 (+61)
19 Penn State 302-327-310=939 (+75)
20 Richmond 328-328-314=970 (+106)