Aug. 10, 2010

2010-11 Schedule | Printable Schedule

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina will play four of its eight regular-season tournaments in the Carolinas and compete in a pair of new events this season as coach Kalen Anderson released the 2010-11 Gamecock women’s golf schedule today.

The season spans the length of the school year, kicking off with the Cougar Classic in early September and wrapping up in late May as the team will look to defend its 2010 NCAA East Regional title and earn a return trip to the NCAA Championship.

“I’m pretty excited about our schedule,” Anderson said. “There should be some very good fields, especially in the fall season, and we’re close to home for the first three tournaments. We’ve got three freshmen that we’re really excited about, and it will be good to get them some experience quickly and close to home.”

It certainly won’t be a long trip for the Gamecocks’ first event – a 110-mile jaunt down Interstate 26 for the Cougar Classic, which is set for Sept. 10-12 at Yeamans Hall Club just outside Charleston. After nearly a month-long break, South Carolina will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the Tar Heel Invitational, which runs Oct. 8-10. Two weeks later, it will be a return to the site of last year’s NCAA Championship as the Gamecocks will compete Oct. 22-24 in The Landfall Tradition at the Country Club of Landfall in Wilmington, N.C. The fall season then wraps up with the inaugural Pac-10/SEC Challenge, which will be held Nov. 5-7 in Stanford, Calif., and rotate between the leagues in future years.

“We’re all looking forward to going out to Stanford for the Pac-10/SEC Challenge,” Anderson said. “It’s a new event with most of the schools from both conferences, and we’re hoping that will start a very competitive series over the next few years.”

The spring season gets an early start this year with a trip to Sorrento, Fla., for the UCF Challenge, set for Feb. 13-15 at RedTail Golf Club (site of the Gamecock men’s 2009 NCAA Regional). Action continues March 11-13 with a trip to Baton Rouge, La., for the LSU Golf Classic. A pair of short trips round out the regular season as the Gamecocks will head north to Greensboro, N.C., for the Bryan Park National Collegiate (March 25-27) and then make the quick drive to Athens, Ga., for the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic (April 1-3).

Auburn will play host to the 2011 SEC Championship from April 15-17 at the Auburn University Club. A few weeks later, the Gamecocks will look to defend their title from last year’s NCAA East Regional as bids will be announced for the 2011 regionals, set for May 5-7 at three sites – LPGA International Golf Club (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Warren Golf Club (Notre Dame, Ind.) and Washington National Golf Course (Auburn, Wash.).

The Gamecocks will then look to make it three trips in four years to the NCAA Championship, which will be held May 17-20 at the Texas A&M Traditions Club in College Station, Texas. South Carolina finished in a tie for 14th place at last year’s championship; Purdue is the defending national champion.

South Carolina returns three letterwinners from the 2009-10 season – junior Katie Burnett and sophomores Amanda Strang and Meredith Swanson. Three freshmen will get a taste of action quickly as newcomers Katie Rose Higgins (Charleston, S.C.), Suzie Lee (East Northport, N.Y.) and Samantha Swinehart (Lancaster, Ohio) round out the Carolina roster. Anderson begins her fourth season as the Gamecocks’ head coach.