March 14, 2008

BATON ROUGE, La. – South Carolina women’s golf shot 306 in the first round of the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic at the University Club today to sit in 10th place with two more rounds to play. Sophomore Bénédicte Toumpsin continued her strong play this spring with a 73 (+1) behind three birdies and a par on the four par-5 holes on the course.

Sitting in fifth place, Toumpsin’s round was played in fits and starts as she birdied Nos. 2 and 3 then turned in bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9. After a birdie on the par-5 11th, she bogeyed the next three holes before finishing strong with a birdie on the par-5 17th hole.

Senior Blythe Worley got off to a difficult start with a double bogey on the first hole before playing even the rest of the front nine. Bogeys on the par-3 13th and 16th holes set her back to 76 (+4) for the round, giving her 23rd place.

Seniors Whitney Simons and Camila Mori were the final two scorers for the Gamecocks in round one. Simons is in 38th place after posting a 77 (+5) today. Mori’s 80 (+8) has her in 70th place as she penciled in bogeys on five of her first nine holes. Sophomore Taylor Barrett rounded out the team in 87th place after shooting 85 (+13).

The Gamecocks are just four strokes behind four teams tied for fifth place in the 17-team field Florida State leads the team standings after a 293 in round one. FSU’s Whitney Wright and Wake Forest’s Laura Crawford sit atop the individual standings with first-round scores of 70 (-2). Play continues on Saturday at 8 a.m. (CT).