April 4, 2009

BROWNS SUMMIT, N.C. – South Carolina’s women’s golf team had one of the best team rounds of the day, a 13-over-par 301, to jump four spots in the team standings to sixth place after two rounds at the Bryan National Collegiate. Two Gamecocks are tied for 13th individually heading into the final round of play.

Benedicte Toumpsin rebounded from a 79 in Friday’s first round to fire a 1-over 73 on Saturday, vaulting her from a tie for 50th to a tie for 13th. Toumpsin, who started on the 10th hole, double-bogeyed the 13th before a birdie at 15 and a bogey at 16, making the turn at 2-over. But she would be flawless on her second nine with a birdie at No. 8 to finish at 1-over for the day, 8-over through two rounds of the tournament.

Freshman Katie Burnett is also tied for 13th at 8-over following a 5-over 77 in the second round. Burnett had a strong first nine, making the turn at just 1-over. But a rough patch of four bogeys on her second nine dropped her to 5-over on the day. She was still well below the course average as only two players in the field broke par on Saturday.

After a difficult first-round 84, junior Taylor Barrett rebounded in a big way with a 2-over 74 to jump 24 spots in the standings from a tie for 80th to a tie for 56th. Barrett made the turn at 1-under after birdies on 10 and 15, then had three bogeys on her second nine to sign for a strong 74. Freshman Cayci Ruppe and junior Corrine Carr both carded scores of 5-over 77 on the day; Ruppe is tied for 28th and Carr is tied for 51st.

LSU, which came into the day with a commanding lead, held onto the top spot in the standings but lost a bit of ground. The Lady Tigers are 16-over after a 302, one stroke worse than the Gamecocks on Saturday. North Carolina (+25) surged to second place with a 294 and cut LSU’s lead to nine shots heading into Sunday. Tournament co-host Wake Forest is one shot back of the Tar Heels at 26-over.

Wake Forest’s Nannette Hill holds the 36-hole lead after one of only two rounds under par on the day. She fired a 4-under 68 and leads at 1-under for the weekend. North Carolina’s Catherine O’Donnell and first-day leader Tessa Teachman of LSU are two strokes back at 1-over.

The final round gets underway Sunday morning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. South Carolina will be teeing off on holes 3, 4, 5 and 6, and will be paired with East Carolina and Virginia. Live results can be followed at golfstat.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTST13. Benedicte Toumpsin - 79-73=152 (+8)T13. Katie Burnett - 75-77=152 (+8)T28. Cayci Ruppe - 77-77=154 (+10)T51. Corrine Carr - 80-77=157 (+13)T56. Taylor Barrett - 84-74=158 (+14)
TEAM STANDINGS1. LSU (+16)2. North Carolina (+25)3. Wake Forest (+26)4. Virginia (+28)5. East Carolina (+35)6. South Carolina (+36)7. Louisville (+37)8. Arkansas (+39)9. Tennessee (+41)T10. Notre Dame (+42)T10. Michigan State (+42)T10. College of Charleston (+42)T13. NC State (+46)T13. Georgia (+46)15. TCU (+51)16. UNC Wilmington (+54)17. Ohio State (+60)18. UNC Greensboro (+62)