April 5, 2009

BROWNS SUMMIT, N.C. – Junior Taylor Barrett fired a season-best 1-under-par 71 and the South Carolina women’s golf team equaled its best finish of the season Sunday with a sixth-place showing at the Bryan National Collegiate. The Gamecocks fired a final-round 295 (+7) to stay in the sixth position and finish at 43-over for the tournament.

Barrett finished one shot shy of equaling her career-best round as she turned in the low round of the tournament for South Carolina. Starting on No. 6 with the shotgun start, the native of York, S.C., birdied three of her first 10 holes and stood 3-under before a pair of bogeys at 17 and 18. But she would play her final five holes at even par to turn in one of only eight rounds under par on the day and one of only 11 for the entire tournament. After a first-day 84 and a tie for 80th place, Barrett vaulted up the leaderboard over her final two rounds and finished tied for 32nd, her best finish in the last four tournaments.

Junior Benedicte Toumpsin started the day tied for 13th, and she would finish the day in that position as well. The Belgium native had a mostly clean scorecard, save for two bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8, to shoot a 2-over 74 in the final round. She finished at 10-over for the tournament and got her fifth top-20 finish of the season.

Freshman Katie Burnett was also tied for 13th entering the final round, but she would drop one shot on the day and finish a stroke back of Toumpsin, tied for 20th. It was an up-and-down round for Burnett, who was 6-over through six holes. But she would card four birdies against just one bogey the rest of the way to sign for a 3-over 75, equaling her score from the first round.

Cayci Ruppe, another freshman, turned in her best performance as a Gamecock with a tie for 32nd place after a final-round 75. Ruppe also got off to a slow start, but birdied three holes on the back nine to post a round of 3-over-par. Junior transfer Corrine Carr also had her strongest showing as a Gamecock, turning in a season-best 76 en route to a 52nd-place finish. Carr had 15 pars on the day with just three blemishes on the scorecard, a double-bogey and two bogeys.

LSU was the wire-to-wire winner of the tournament at 23-over, holding off a final-day charge from Virginia to win by four strokes. Wake Forest was third at 30-over.

Individually, LSU’s Megan McChrystal fired a final-round 69 (-3) to finish at 1-under for the weekend – the only player in the field under par – and take individual medalist honors by three strokes. Finishing in a tie for second at 2-over were Abby Bools of East Carolina and Nannette Hill of Wake Forest.

South Carolina now has a week off before playing host to the 2009 SEC Women’s Championship, which will be played April 17-19 at Cobblestone Park in Blythewood. Admission will be free and open to the public; for more information, log on to GamecocksOnline.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTST13. Benedicte Toumpsin - 79-73-74=226 (+10)T20. Katie Burnett - 75-77-75=227 (+11)T32. Taylor Barrett - 84-74-71=229 (+13)T32. Cayci Ruppe - 77-77-75=229 (+13)T52. Corrine Carr - 80-77-76=233 (+17)
TEAM STANDINGS1. LSU (+23)2. Virginia (+27)3. Wake Forest (+30)4. North Carolina (+36)5. East Carolina (+38)6. South Carolina (+43)7. Louisville (+46)8. Tennessee (+47)T9. Arkansas (+51)T9. Michigan State (+51)11. NC State (+54)12. College of Charleston (+62)13. TCU (+66)T14. Notre Dame (+69)T14. Georgia (+69)16. UNC Wilmington (+71)17. Ohio State (+73)18. UNC Greensboro (+89