April 1, 2011

Live Scoring

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

ATHENS, Ga. – South Carolina’s women’s golf team made nine birdies in the opening round of the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic on Friday, taking advantage of a new scoring system to shoot an 8-over-par 296 to tie for 12th place through 18 holes at the UGA Golf Course.

Counting the best four balls on each hole – as opposed to the usual system of counting the four low 18-hole scores out of five players each round – the Gamecocks were able to minimize their mistakes and find themselves squarely in the middle of the 23-team field that is stacked with nationally ranked teams. All 23 teams played under sunny skies Friday, but strong winds kept scores from going lower.

Freshman Samantha Swinehart and sophomore Amanda Strang led the individual effort with matching rounds of 4-over-par 76 to tie for 30th place through one round. Both had one birdie and five bogeys on the day. Swinehart contributed early with a birdie at No. 2 – the Gamecocks’ fourth hole of the day – to move to 1-under as an individual and keep the team at 3-under at that point in the round. She would then bogey five of her next nine holes, but finished her day with five straight pars.

Strang, meanwhile, bogeyed four of her first five holes, but she would be a major contributor to the team effort the rest of the way with just one bogey across the last 13 holes of her round. A birdie at the par-5 12th allowed the Gamecocks to drop a double-bogey and offset a bogey to keep the team from losing ground on that hole.

Junior Katie Burnett had a pair of birdies and six bogeys en route to a 5-over 77. She was 2-under through five holes with birdies at No. 17 and No. 3, but five bogeys on her next seven holes and a pair of bogeys on the final two holes gave her a 5-over round. Freshman Suzie Lee contributed a pair of birdies to the effort in a round of 6-over-par 78, and Katie Rose Higgins had three birdies in a round of 79 (+7). Sophomore Meredith Swanson, playing as an individual, shot 83 (+11).

The Gamecocks started off very strong with two birdies on the first hole – No. 17 – to move to 2-under, then picked up another birdie at No. 1 to move to 3-under. The fourth hole was a killer for the team as all five players made a bogey, dropping the Gamecocks to 2-over at that point. Three-bogey holes at Nos. 6, 9 and 10 moved the score to 8-over with 7 holes to play. A birdie by Lee at the 13th moved Carolina back to 7-over, but two bogeys at the last hole gave them a final total of 8-over-par.

Defending national champion Purdue led the way on Friday with a 4-under-par 284; second-ranked Alabama is in second place two shots back. Duke and host Georgia are tied for third at 3-over. Worth noting: under the traditional scoring format, Purdue’s score would have been 292 (+5), Alabama 298 (+10), Duke 298 (+10) and Georgia 301 (+13). The Gamecocks’ team score would have been 309 (+19).

Individually, Duke’s Aleja Cangrejo and Florida State’s Hannah Thomson are tied for the lead after rounds of 2-under-par 70. Purdue’s Numa Gulyanamitta is one shot back in third place.

The teams will once again tee off at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with a shotgun start. South Carolina will begin its round on hole No. 10. Live scoring is available through golfstat.com.

LIZ MURPHEY COLLEGIATE CLASSIC – FIRST ROUND
April 1, 2011 • Athens, Ga.
UGA Golf Course • Par 72, 6,335 Yards

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T30. Samantha Swinehart – 76 (+4)
T30. Amanda Strang – 76 (+4)
T42. Katie Burnett – 77 (+5)
T59. Suzie Lee – 78 (+6)
T78. Katie Rose Higgins – 79 (+7)
*T107. Meredith Swanson – 83 (+11)
* – individual

TEAM STANDINGS
(Four best balls on each hole)
1. Purdue – 284 (-4)
2. Alabama – 286 (-2)
T3. Duke – 291 (+3)
T3. Georgia – 291 (+3)
5. Florida State – 293 (+5)
T6. Arkansas – 294 (+6)
T6. Auburn – 294 (+6)
T6. Virginia – 294 (+6)
T6. Wake Forest – 294 (+6)
T10. Kennesaw State – 295 (+7)
T10. Oklahoma – 295 (+7)
T12. South Carolina – 296 (+8)
T12. Michigan State – 296 (+8)
14. North Carolina – 297 (+9)
T15. Florida – 300 (+12)
T15. Ohio State – 300 (+12)
17. Notre Dame – 302 (+14)
18. LSU – 303 (+15)
19. Furman – 304 (+16)
20. Kent State – 306 (+18)
21. Kentucky – 307 (+19)
T22. Chattanooga – 311 (+23)
T22. Georgia State – 311 (+23)