April 17, 2009

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. – Junior Benedicte Toumpsin fired a 1-over-par 72 and the South Carolina women’s golf team got steady play from three Gamecocks en route to a round of 299 (+11) and fourth place after day one of the 2009 SEC Women’s Golf Championship at Cobblestone Park Golf Club. Auburn leads the tournament at 5-over through one round.

Toumpsin got off to a somewhat rough start with three bogeys in her first seven holes. But she carded three birdies against just one bogey over her final 11 holes to finish the day at 1-over par and a tie for seventh place in the individual standings, only two shots off the tournament lead. The junior from Belgium is looking for a repeat performance of her third-place finish at the 2008 SEC Championship.

Corrine Carr, a junior transfer from Furman, posted her best 18-hole round as a Gamecock with a 2-over 73 on Friday. Carr got off to a fast start with a birdie at the first, then stayed steady with only three scattered bogeys throughout her round. Carr is tied for 10th heading into Saturday’s second round.

One stroke back of Carr is freshman Katie Burnett, who fired a 3-over 74 in her SEC Championship debut. Burnett got off to a rough start with five bogeys through her first eight holes, but was bogey-free with a pair of birdies over her final 10 holes to finish at 3-over. Burnett is tied for 17th through one round.

Auburn had three players at par or better and fired a 5-over-par 289 to lead the way after one round. Haley Wilson led the Tigers with a 1-under 70, and she also shares the individual lead with two other players after one round. Joining Wilson atop the individual leaderboard are Ashley Lance of Ole Miss and Lucy Nunn of Arkansas.

Three other players – Auburn’s Clanton and Schepperle and Tennessee’s Nathalie Mansson are tied for fourth after even-par rounds of 71.

Tennessee and Arkansas are tied for second place after rounds of 295 (+11). Tournament host South Carolina is fourth after a 15-over-par 299. Georgia and Alabama are one stroke back of the Gamecocks at 16-over. Florida, the defending SEC Tournament champion, is in 10th place at 307 (+23).

Windy conditions over the last couple of days dried the course out and sped up the greens, leading to some high numbers across the board. The course played to an average of nearly five and a half strokes over par at 76.44.

Tournament play resumes at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with teams going off both No. 1 and No. 10 tees. Full results, tee times and live scoring is available through golfstat.com.

TEAM STANDINGST7. Benedicte Toumpsin  72 (+1)T10. Corrine Carr    73 (+2)T17. Katie Burnett  74 (+3)T47. Taylor Barrett 80 (+9)T53. Cayci Ruppe  82 (+11)
TEAM STANDINGS1. Auburn   +5  289T2. Tennessee   +11 295T2. Arkansas    +11 2954. South Carolina +15   299T5. Georgia +16 300T5. Alabama +16 300T7. LSU          +17    301T7. Mississippi +17 3019. Vanderbilt   +20 30410. Florida +23 30711. Kentucky    +29 31312. Mississippi State   +34 318