March 20, 2008

COLUMBIA – South Carolina women’s golf opens play at the 36th Annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic on Fri., Mar. 21, facing 12 nationally-ranked teams among the 18-team field, including unanimous No. 1 Duke. Playing 54 holes at University of Georgia Golf Course, the field includes 20 individuals ranked in the top 50 of the Golf Week/Sagarin Performance Ratings, including South Carolina’s Bénédicte Toumpsin, who ranks 28th. Into the stiffest competition of the spring season, South Carolina head coach Kalen Anderson will take the same lineup that led the Gamecocks to 10th place at last week’s LSU/Cleveland Golf Classic.

Toumpsin leads the squad with a 73.17 stroke average this season. The sophomore has finished in the top five of both tournaments this spring and has a 72.17 average over her last six rounds. Seniors Blythe Worley, Whitney Simons and Camila Mori bring a wealth of experience to the lineup. Worley is second on the team with a 75.83 average and finished in the top 15 at the spring opener, the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. Simons has a 76.67 average, the best of her career, to rank third on the team, while Mori is fifth with a 76.73 mark.

Sophomore Taylor Barrett will compete in her third-straight event of the spring. She has a 77.75 average over four tournaments this season and shot a career-best 227 at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic. Sophomore Meredith Taylor will make her collegiate debut at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, playing as an individual.

In addition to the top-ranked Blue Devils, the tournament’s other teams on the Golf World Coaches’ Poll are No. 7 Purdue, No. 8 Auburn, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 11 Georgia, No. 12 Alabama, No. 13 Wake Forest, No. 17 Tennessee, No. 18 Kent State, No. 22 Vanderbilt, No. 23 LSU and No. 24 Texas A&M. Florida State, Furman, Kentucky, UCF and Virginia round out the field.

The Gamecocks, who will start from the 10th tee at 9 a.m., will play the first round with Wake Forest and UCF. Saturday and Sunday rounds will also begin at 9 a.m.