Oct. 3, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – A tough golf course got the better of every team in the field today as South Carolina’s women’s golf team stands in 13th place after one round at the Lady Tar Heel Invitational at the UNC Finley Golf Course.

Every team in the field was well over par after the first day’s play with Wake Forest and Virginia tied for the team lead at 6-over. The Gamecocks shot a 310 (+22), but only six shots separate seventh and 15th place as the field average was a 77.85 through one round.

Benedicte Toumpsin led the way for the Gamecocks with a 3-over-par 75. She made the turn at 2-over with bogeys at the 13th and 16th, then got one back with a birdie at No. 4. Toumpsin, however, went double bogey-bogey at 6 and 7, but salvaged her second nine with a birdie at her final hole, the 9th. The junior stands tied for 25th after Friday’s play.

Freshman Katie Burnett continued the strong start to her collegiate career with a 76 (+4) to open her tournament. A rough start with a pair of bogeys at the 10th and 11th – statistically the two toughest holes on the course – did not derail her as she managed a pair of birdies along with two more bogeys to make the turn at 2-over. Another birdie on her second nine, along with three bogeys, gave her matching 38s and a tie for 33rd.

Junior Corrine Carr also got off to a rough start with bogeys at 11 and 12, but a birdie at the 14th got her back to 1-over. She followed up five bogeys in seven holes with a birdie at the 6th to finish at 5-over with a 77. Carr is tied for 37th after one round.

Senior Meredith Taylor and junior Taylor Barrett struggled to find a rhythm as neither player had a birdie on the day. Taylor shot 82 (+10) to finish in a tie for 74th, and Barrett had one stroke more at 83 (+11), tied for 83rd.

Five players at 1-under share the first-day lead after Jennie Arsenault and Lene Krog (Virginia), Mercedes Germino (Kent State), and Nannette Hill and Natalie Sheary (Wake Forest) each shot 71 to lead the 92-player field. Four more were a shot back at even par.

The Gamecocks will again start on hole No. 10 Saturday with Carolina’s first tee time slated for 9:45 a.m. Fans can follow the action with live stats at golfstat.com.

CAROLINA RESULTS/ROUND 2 TEE TIMES (#10 Tee)