Feb. 14, 2011

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

SORRENTO, Fla. – Junior Katie Burnett and freshman Samantha Swinehart were a combined 9-under-par on Monday to move South Carolina from 10th place to second place and in contention for the title in the second round of the UCF Challenge at RedTail Golf Club.

Burnett tied her career-best round as a Gamecock with a 5-under-par 67 – the field’s low round of the day – and Swinehart made five birdies in a six-hole stretch on her second nine to shoot a collegiate-best 68 (-4). The duo were the catalyst for Carolina’s round of 284 (-4), the third-best 18-hole score in school history and a 10-shot improvement over the team’s first round. It was also the tournament’s low round of the day by five strokes. As a result, the Gamecocks are all alone in second place, only four shots out of the tournament lead, and will play in the final group on Tuesday.

Burnett entered the day at even-par after a round of 72 on Sunday, but took advantage of what was once again a very score-friendly golf course to move into fourth place in the individual standings. With the Gamecocks starting on the back nine, the junior from Brunswick, Ga., wasted no time with birdies at 11, 12 and 14 to set the pace for Carolina in the early-going. A 3-putt bogey at the 15th dropped her back to 2-under, but she made the turn at 2-under with three straight pars.

A chip-in from 60-plus feet on No. 1 got Burnett to 3-under, and a stellar bunker shot at the par-5 second hole led to another birdie. She then shook off a bogey at No. 5 and drained a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 6, then birdied the difficult eighth hole to get to 5-under. A 20-foot birdie attempt at her final hole missed by inches – as did a birdie attempt at the seventh – and she signed for a 67 (-5), tying her own mark and three others for the second-best single-round by a South Carolina golfer; the best-ever by a Carolina junior.

Swinehart, meanwhile, set the South Carolina freshman record for a single round with a 68 (-4), eclipsing three rounds of 69 from the last 30 years. The native of Lancaster, Ohio, started with three straight pars – narrowly missing a trio of birdie putts – before finally breaking through at No. 13. Her only blemishes on the scorecard came with bogeys at the 14th and 18th as she made the turn at 1-over.

And then she caught fire. Swinehart ran off a string of four straight birdies at holes 2-5, then made a fantastic par save from the greenside bunker on No. 6 to stay at 3-under for the day. Another birdie at the par-5 seventh hole got her to 4-under for the day – 3-under for the tournament – and a pair of pars closed out a back-nine 31 to move her into sixth place in the 92-player field.

Sophomore Meredith Swanson made a two-stroke improvement from her opening round with a 73 (+1) on Monday, moving to 4-over for the tournament and a tie for 29th place. She started strong for the second straight day, posting a bogey-free first nine that included birdies at holes 12 and 14 to make the turn at 2-under 34. A bogey at No. 1 dropped her to 1-over, but she got the stroke back with a birdie at the par-3 fourth. However, double-bogeys at Nos. 5 and 8 sandwiched a birdie at the seventh as she finished 1-over for the day.

Freshman Katie Rose Higgins and sophomore Amanda Strang both shot 76 (+4) with several highlights throughout the day. Higgins overcame a bogey at 15 and a double-bogey at 16 to record a birdie at the 17th, then made the turn at 3-over after bogeying 18. A birdie at No. 3 got her back to 2-over before bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6 dropped her to 4-over as she finished with three straight pars. Strang struggled early with a pair of double-bogeys on her first nine, but put together a strong second half of the round with three birdies and a bogey to get back to 4-over.

Cross-state rival Coastal Carolina leads the tournament at 574 (-2) after losing one shot to par on Monday. The Gamecocks are in second place at 578 (+2), four shots back of the Chanticleers. First-round leader Tulane dropped to third place, one shot behind South Carolina at 3-over. Coastal’s Jessica Alexander maintained her tournament lead with a second-round 69 to get to 9-under for the week. Kentucky’s Ashleigh Albrecht is one shot back. Tulane’s Ashley McKenney is in third place at 6-under-par, followed by Burnett.

The Gamecocks will be paired with Coastal Carolina and Tulane in Tuesday’s final round, which is slated to begin with an 8:45 a.m. shotgun start. However, tee times have been delayed until 9:30 a.m. for frost during each of the first two rounds. Live scoring is available via golfstatresults.com, and fans can receive periodic updates from the course by following @GamecockWGolf on Twitter.

SOUTH CAROLINA INDIVIDUALS
4. Katie Burnett – 72-67=139 (-5)
T6. Samantha Swinehart – 73-68=141 (-3)
T29. Meredith Swanson – 75-73=148 (+4)
T42. Amanda Strang – 74-76=150 (+6)
T48. Katie Rose Higgins – 75-76=151 (+7)

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Coastal Carolina – 285-289=574 (-2)
2. South Carolina – 294-284=578 (+2)
3. Tulane – 284-295=579 (+3)
4. Kentucky – 287-295=582 (+6)
5. Minnesota – 288-295=583 (+7)
6. Texas – 290-294=584 (+8)
7. UCF – 286-303=589 (+13)
T8. Mississippi – 291-302=593 (+17)
T8. Kennesaw State – 292-301=593 (+17)
T10. South Florida – 293-302=595 (+19)
T10. Augusta State – 296-299=595 (+19)
12. UT-San Antonio – 302-296=598 (+22)
13. Baylor – 297-302=599 (+23)
14. East Carolina – 299-304=603 (+27)
15. Memphis – 302-306=608 (+32)
16. Georgia State – 299-315=614 (+38)
17. Illinois State – 306-317=623 (+47)