April 17, 2011

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

AUBURN, Ala. – Led by a career-best round from sophomore Amanda Strang, the South Carolina women’s golf team recorded the low round of the day Sunday to finish fifth at the SEC Women’s Championship. The Gamecocks shot a 287 (-1) in the final round to lead the field and move from eighth to fifth at the Auburn University Club, finishing with a 54-hole score of 893 (+29), one shot back of fourth-place Arkansas and six back of third-place LSU.

For South Carolina, the round of 287 marked the third-best round of the week overall and tied for the fifth-best 18-hole team score in school history. In SEC Championship play, only a round of 282 (-6) in the second round of the 2002 SEC Championship – which the Gamecocks won – stands ahead of today’s effort at Auburn.

“Today was just great,” head coach Kalen Anderson said. “This was kind of similar to what we did last year in terms of having some good, positive rounds from everyone. It was fun to get off to a good start and have all five players in contention to count for the day.

“We definitely played the easier nine first, and we were something like 8-under through six holes. We knew we were going to drop a few on the second nine, but we hung in there and finished strong. Amanda, Suzie and Katie all birdied the last hole. We came awfully close to catching Arkansas for fourth, and we weren’t too far away from catching LSU for third. But a great week, a big positive with regionals coming up.”

Strang, a sophomore from Jonstorp, Sweden, made it around the par 72, 6,364-yard layout in 3-under-par 69, a 14-shot improvement from the tournament’s opening round Friday and the first time in her collegiate career to break 70 in a tournament round. Her previous best was a 70 in the first round of last season’s NCAA East Regional.

In today’s round, Strang got off to a blazing start with four birdies in her first five holes to get to 4-under. She would make bogey on 15 and 17 to make the turn at 2-under-par, but then got a stroke back with a birdie at No. 3. The only blemish on her second nine would be a bogey at No. 5, but she got that stroke back again with a birdie at the par-5 seventh to finish 3-under for the day. It was one of just three rounds in the 60s in Sunday’s final 18 holes. As a result, Strang jumped from a tie for 46th to a tie for 29th, one of her best tournament finishes of the year.

“Amanda showed a lot of confidence and played really well,” Anderson said. “It’s been there for a while; it was just a matter of the talent coming out, and it did today.”

Freshman Suzie Lee, competing in her first SEC Championship, was the high finisher for South Carolina as she earned a tie for ninth place – her first career top-10 as a collegian – with her third straight round of 73 (+1) to finish the week at 219 (+3). Lee started almost as hot as Strang with three straight birdies on holes 11-13, then bogeyed 15 and 18 to make the turn at 1-under. A double-bogey at the first dropped her out of red numbers, but she pulled back to even par with a birdie at No. 3. She then shook off bogeys at the sixth and seventh to finish her week with a birdie at No. 9 to finish the day at 1-over-par.

Another freshman, Katie Rose Higgins, improved by six shots from her second-round performance with an even-par 72. Starting with birdies on 10 and 12, Higgins made the turn at 1-over after a bogey at 15 and a double-bogey at the 18th. But she would make three birdies on the front nine – offsetting a pair of bogeys – and par the final three holes to equal her collegiate-best round. She previously shot a 72 in the opening round of the Tar Heel Invitational in October. She would finish the week in a tie for 24th place.

Like Higgins, Katie Burnett improved by six shots on Sunday to post a 73 (+1) in her final round. Opening with six straight pars, Burnett birdied 16 and 17 before a bogey at 18 to turn at 1-under. After another birdie at No. 3 got her to 2-under, she ran into trouble with a bogey-bogey-double stretch on holes 4-6, dropping to 2-over. However, she would birdie the final hole to finish off a 1-over-par round and equal Higgins with a tie for 24th place at 227 (+11).

Samantha Swinehart had her best round of the week as well, shooting 75 (+3) in the final round to finish in a tie for 32nd place at 229 (+13). Much like Saturday’s round, Swinehart rolled off 14 pars, a birdie and two bogeys. But also like Saturday’s round, one bad hole – a double-bogey at the fifth – cost her what could have been a stellar round.

Auburn was the wire-to-wire leader and captured its second SEC title in three years with an even-par 864, winning by 11 shots over Alabama. LSU finished third at 23-over 887. Tennessee’s Erica Popson was the tournament medalist at 210 (-6), winning by one shot over 2009 champion Marta Silva Zamora of Georgia. Auburn’s Cydney Clanton finished third at 214 (-2).

With the regular season now complete, the Gamecocks will await an expected bid to the NCAA Regional. The postseason begins at three sites – Daytona Beach, Fla.; South Bend, Ind.; and Seattle, Wash. – May 5-7. For the most in-depth coverage of Gamecock golf, visit GamecocksOnline.com.

SEC WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP – FINAL RESULTS
April 17, 2011 • Auburn, Ala.
Auburn University Club • Par 72, 6,364 Yards

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T9. Suzie Lee – 73-73-73=219 (+3)
T24. Katie Burnett – 75-79-73=227 (+11)
T24. Katie Rose Higgins – 77-78-72=227 (+11)
T29. Amanda Strang – 83-76-69=228 (+12)
T32. Samantha Swinehart – 77-77-75=229 (+13)

FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
1. Auburn – 283-290-291=864 (E)
2. Alabama – 291-291-293=875 (+11)
3. LSU – 287-300-300=887 (+23)
4. Arkansas – 289-305-298=892 (+28)
5. South Carolina – 302-304-287=893 (+29)
6. Tennessee – 285-308-302=895 (+31)
7. Vanderbilt – 295-307-295=897 (+33)
8. Georgia – 292-309-298=899 (+35)
9. Florida – 301-310-296=907 (+43)
10. Kentucky – 315-304-308=927 (+63)
11. Mississippi – 316-314-301=931 (+67)
12. Mississippi State – 315-324-316=955 (+91)