Dec. 20, 2010

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

Former South Carolina women’s golfer Benedicte Toumpsin will be a full-time member of the Ladies European Tour in 2011 after earning an 18th-place finish at the tour’s Qualifying School, which wrapped up Sunday at La Manga Club in Spain.

Toumpsin, who was one of nearly 20 student-athletes to earn their degrees from the University of South Carolina last Monday, made it through five grueling rounds of the qualifying tournament with scores of 79-70-74-73-73=369 (+8). She tied for 18th place in the 93-player field to earn one of 30 available spots on next year’s tour.

The native of Belgium began the pre-qualifying stage three weeks ago with 250 other hopefuls and made it through a total of nine rounds to get her professional career off to a great start. A total of 110 players will have full exempt status on the 2011 tour – the top 80 from last year’s Order of Merit and 30 qualifiers from Q-School.

“It was the longest job interview ever, and I’m glad I made it,” Toumpsin said. “I am going to play all the events next year in Europe and Australia. I am really happy to be on the tour just a few days after graduation. It is a dream come true for me, and my hard work and sacrifices paid off finally!”

The 2011 Ladies European Tour season gets underway Feb. 3-6 at the HANDA Women’s Australian Open in Melbourne. The season, which runs through December, includes 28 tournaments played in 20 different countries.