Nov. 8, 2007

COLUMBIA – South Carolina men’s golf was ranked No. 15 in the fall’s final Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches’ Poll released today. The Gamecocks opened the campaign tying for first at the Carpet Capital Collegiate and closed with a fourth-place showing at the Calloway Golf Collegiate Match Play Championship.

After just missing on the team title in the season-opener, falling to Alabama in a playoff hole, South Carolina took fourth at The Brickyard Intercollegiate behind four players finishing among the top 25 on the individual leaderboard.

Entering Match Play as the 10th seed, the Gamecocks scored a pair of upsets by knocking of No. 7 Florida State 3-1-1 in the first round and No. 2 Alabama 4-1 in the second round. In the semifinals, No. 3 Georgia Tech dealt Carolina a 3-2 defeat, sending the Gamecocks to the third-place match, which No. 9 Florida claimed 4-1.

Senior Mark Anderson led the Gamecocks in the fall with a 71.89 average and finished the season ranked 43rd in the Golfstat Head-to-Head Player Standings. Anderson went 2-2 in match play in the fall finale, while sophomore Paul Woodbury and junior Florian Fritsch each posted 3-1 records.

The team will open the spring season on Feb. 17 at the John Hayt Invitational. The three-day event will be hosted by University of North Florida at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra, Fla.