Oct. 15, 2009

Tournament Notes in PDF Format | Live Scoring

South Carolina’s women’s golf team will compete for the second straight weekend, their last of the fall season, as they play Friday through Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Women’s Collegiate Championships in Knoxville, Tenn. The tournament will take place for the second straight year at the par-72, 6,317-yard Fox Den Country Club.

The Gamecocks will send out the same lineup that competed at the Lady Tar Heel Invitational last week, where Carolina finished in 13th place against a very strong field. Seniors Benedicte Toumpsin and Corrine Carr will headline the Gamecock lineup, along with sophomore Katie Burnett and freshmen Amanda Strang and Meredith Swanson.

Toumpsin was the top Carolina finisher last week at the Lady Tar Heel, tying for 21st place at 5-over par. Last year at the Mercedes-Benz, she again led the Gamecocks with her second top-20 finish of the season at 220 (+4), tied for 19th place. Carr and Burnett also have familiarity with the Fox Den layout as they competed in this event last season.

Despite a rough outing last week in Chapel Hill, Burnett continues to lead this Gamecock squad with a 73.43 stroke average through seven stroke-play rounds. She is ranked 16th in the Southeastern Conference and has two top-20 finishes on the season.

Last year, South Carolina finished 15th at this event, shooting 912 (+54) but improving by 11 shots in the final round. In the 14-year history of the event, it will be the seventh time for South Carolina to compete in Knoxville. The best finish for a Gamecock team came in 1999 when Carolina finished fourth in the 18-team field.

As with most events so far this season, another strong field awaits the Gamecocks in Tennessee. Thirteen of the 18 competing teams are ranked in the latest GolfWeek Top 50, led by No. 8 LSU and No. 10 Florida. Other top teams include No. 14 Ohio State, No. 19 Tulane, No. 22 Tennessee, No. 23 Wake Forest, No. 24 Louisville, No. 32 Chattanooga, No. 37 Furman, No. 39 TCU, No. 40 Kent State and No. 45 Arkansas. SEC foes Kentucky and Ole Miss will also be competing, as will NC State, Notre Dame and Texas-San Antonio.

First-round play gets underway at 9 a.m. Friday with the Gamecocks paired with Kentucky and NC State on the No. 10 tee. Live scoring will be available through golfstat.com, and live video from the 18th green at Fox Den can be seen on Saturday via utladyvols.com.