March 16, 2008

BATON ROUGE, La. – South Carolina sophomore Bénédicte Toumpsin finished in a tie for fifth place individually in leading the Gamecocks to a share of 10th place at the LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic at the University Club. South Carolina shot 302 on Sunday after matching 306s in the first and second rounds to finish tied with Central Florida at 914 for the tournament.

Toumpsin was unwavering in her tournament scorecard, shooting 73 (+1) all three days to finish at 219 (+3). Her first round was up and down with four birdies and five bogeys. Her play evened out in Saturday’s second round as she played her second nine at -1 after bogeys in two of her first three holes put her behind early in the round. In Sunday’s final effort, Toumpsin again got off to a shaky start with a bogey right out of the gate, but, following back-to-back bogeys, she recovered with birdies on two of the next four holes to get back to her daily 73.

Senior Whitney Simons charged up the team standing for the Gamecocks with a final-round 74 (+2) after shooting 77 and 79 in the first two rounds, respectively. Her Sunday effort, which featured three birdies in her first seven holes, put her into 41st place at 230 (+14). Senior Blythe Worley opened the tournament with a 76 (+4) before carding 79s in the final two rounds to claim a share of 59th place.

Sophomore Taylor Barrett closed in a tie for 73rd place as she recovered from an opening-round 85 to shoot 75 and 78 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Senior Camila Mori rounded out the team in 77th place. She kicked off the tournament with an 80 on Friday and shot 82 on Saturday before rebounding with a 77 in the final round.

Florida State took the team title, topping host LSU by six strokes, with a total of 884 (+20). Carolina Westrup led the Seminoles with a 208 (-8) to win the individual crown after rounds of 73, 68 and 67. She won by four strokes over North Carolina State’s Lauren Doughtie.

The Gamecocks have just a few days off before heading to Athens, Ga., for the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, which begins on Fri., Mar. 21.