March 13, 2009

BATON ROUGE, La. – Against one of the strongest fields South Carolina will face all year, the Gamecock women’s golf team fired one of their best rounds of the season so far and stand in eighth place on a crowded leaderboard at the LSU Golf Classic. The Gamecocks shot a 4-over-par 292, its second-lowest total of the season, and stand only eight strokes out of the team lead.

Junior Benedicte Toumpsin continues to lead the Gamecocks after firing a 2-under 70, equaling her best 18-hole score of the season, to stand in a five-way tie for fifth place. Toumpsin, ranked 76th in the country in the latest Golfstat ratings, started on the 12th hole with the shotgun start and carded pars on her first six holes before a bogey at 18. But she erased that one hole later with a birdie at the par-4 first, then carded two more birdies at Nos. 4 and 6 to get to 2-under on the day. A bogey at the par-3 eighth bumped her back to 1-under, but then a bogey on her final hole, the par-5 11th, moved her back onto the first page of the leaderboard.

South Carolina got strong play from the rest of its lineup as well. Freshman Katie Burnett finished with a 1-over 73, picking up birdies on Nos. 1, 4 and 6 to go along with four bogeys. Burnett stands in a tie for 30th with eight others. Fellow freshman Cayci Ruppe, playing in her first event as part of the Gamecock team lineup, was only one shot higher than Burnett with a 2-over 74 that included eight straight pars at one point.

Junior Taylor Barrett got off to a hot start with three birdies in her first six holes, even holding a share of the tournament lead at one point. But a rough stretch over her final 10 holes dropped her back to 3-over with a 75. Senior Meredith Taylor was one stroke back of Barrett with a 4-over 76. Freshman Taylor Weaver, playing as an individual, shot a 5-over 77 in her first competitive round as a collegian.

No. 12 Wake Forest shot a 4-under-par 284 to take the first-day team lead, two shots ahead of third-ranked Virginia. Tournament host and ninth-ranked LSU is tied for third place with North Carolina at 1-under.

Virginia’s Callie Nielson was lights-out in the opening round, firing a 5-under 67 to hold the individual lead after day one. LSU’s Jaqueline Hedwall and North Carolina’s Allie White are one shot back, tied for second at 4-under.

Weather permitting, Saturday’s second round is slated to get underway at 8:30 a.m. with a shotgun start. South Carolina’s players will be paired with Mississippi State and Tulane for the second day of play. Live results can be obtained at golfstat.com.

CAROLINA RESULTS/ROUND 2 TEE TIMES
T5. Benedicte Toumpsin – 70 (-2) – 8:30 a.m. (Hole No. 12)
T30. Katie Burnett – 73 (+1) – 8:30 a.m. (Hole No. 12)
T35. Cayci Ruppe – 84 (+2) – 8:30 a.m. (Hole No. 13)
T50. Taylor Barrett – 75 (+3) – 8:30 a.m. (Hole No. 14)
T58. Meredith Taylor – 76 (+4) – 8:30 a.m. (Hole No. 14)
T70. Taylor Weaver* – 77 (+5) – 8:30 a.m. (Hole No. 18)
* Playing as an individual

TEAM STANDINGS – FIRST ROUND
1. Wake Forest (-4)
2. Virginia (-3)
T3. LSU (-1)
T3. North Carolina (-1)
5. Tulane (+1)
T6. TCU (+2)
T6. UNC Wilmington (+2)
8. South Carolina (+4)
T9. Furman (+5)
T9. Kentucky (+5)
T11. Colorado (+8)
T11. Louisville (+8)
T11. Notre Dame (+8)
14. Arkansas (+10)
T15. College of Charleston (+12)
T15. Mississippi (+12)
17. NC State (+16)
18. Mississippi State (+20)