May 4, 2009

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – South Carolina women’s golf signee Meredith Swanson has been granted one of two sponsor’s exemptions for this weekend’s Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill, one of the premier stops on the LPGA circuit.

Swanson, named one of the nation’s “Top 25 Upcoming College Freshmen” by GolfWeek, will be competing in an LPGA event for the first time. The native of Roanoke, Va., has been ranked as high as the No. 2 junior golfer in the state of Virginia throughout her junior career and is currently ranked 93rd in the nation by GolfWeek. She participated in Monday qualifying for this event last season but did not qualify for the tournament.

“I’m pretty excited,” Swanson said. “I got to walk the course earlier and I played a practice round with Laura Diaz today. She was really great, it’s going to be a lot of fun this week.”

Swanson will join more than 140 LPGA professionals in this week’s Michelob Ultra Open field, one of the strongest fields in a non-major event on the circuit. Last season, every player in the Top 50 of the LPGA money list competed in the event. Recently retired superstar Annika Sorenstam won last year’s event with a score of 64-66-69-66=265 (-19), seven shots clear of the field. Also competing this week will be former Gamecock Kristy McPherson

The event will be played at the par-71, 6,315-yard River Course at Kingsmill, which served as a PGA Tour site for 22 years before becoming home to the LPGA’s Michelob Ultra Open. First- and second-round pairings will be announced Tuesday and posted on LPGA.com.