April 25, 2011

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina will compete in the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship for the 13th consecutive year, earning a bid to the NCAA West Regional, which runs May 5-7 at Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash. The 72-team, 18-individual field was announced Monday night by the NCAA with 24 schools and six individuals competing in each of three regionals.

The Gamecocks, ranked 36th in the latest Golfstat release, are seeded 12th out of the 24 teams. The West Regional is hosted by the University of Washington. Washington National Golf Club is the Huskies’ home course, located approximately 35 miles south of the school’s Seattle campus.

“Although a bit longer of a trip than we had expected, we are excited to compete in the West Regional,” head coach Kalen Anderson said. “We have come off a needed weekend of rest, and we will be practicing, preparing and playing throughout the week between finals. The team is playing with a lot of confidence right now and we will focus on keeping our games sharp.”

Carolina wasn’t the only team from the East Region to be shipped to the Pacific Northwest. The Gamecocks will be joined in Washington by Southeastern Conference mates Georgia and Tennessee, seeded fourth and fifth, respectively; ACC foe Virginia – the No. 2 seed – is the other West regional participant from east of the Mississippi River. Southern California is the region’s top seed with Arizona seeded third. Pepperdine, Iowa State, UC Davis, Texas A&M and Oklahoma round out the top 10 seeds. Sixteen teams ranked in the nation’s top 50 will compete in the West Regional.

Eleven of the 12 SEC schools received bids to the regional round. Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Mississippi, Vanderbilt and Kentucky will compete in the East Regional in Daytona Beach, Fla., while LSU and Arkansas are set for the Central Regional in South Bend, Ind.

The Gamecocks are the defending NCAA East Regional champions, shooting an even-par 864 over 54 holes to win the program’s first regional title last May at Ironwood Golf Club in Greenville, N.C. Katie Burnett, a sophomore at the time, was the tournament medalist at 210 (-6), her first tournament title as a collegian and the third regional championship by a Gamecock women’s golfer.

This year marks South Carolina’s 13th consecutive appearance in an NCAA Regional, dating back to the 1999 season. It will be the 16th time overall for the Gamecocks to compete in postseason play, but the first appearance in a West Regional. All previous NCAA tournament appearances for the Gamecocks have come in the East Regional.

The full NCAA Championship field can be found at NCAA.com.

NCAA WOMEN’S GOLF WEST REGIONAL

May 5-7 • Washington National Golf Club • Auburn, Wash.
University of Washington, host
(teams listed by seed)
1. Southern California
2. Virginia
3. Arizona
4. Georgia
5. Tennessee
6. Pepperdine
7. Iowa State
8. UC Davis
9. Texas A&M
10. Oklahoma
11. Oregon
12. South Carolina
13. Washington
14. Tulsa
15. Denver
16. San Diego State
17. BYU
18. New Mexico
19. UTSA
20. Portland State
21. NMSU
22. San Jose State
23. Oral Roberts
24. UTEP

Individuals:
Kayla Mortellaro, Idaho
Teo Poplawski, Idaho
Amy Anderson, North Dakota State
Brianna Espinoza, Colorado State
Jessica Hollandsworth, Maryland
Chelsey Cothran, Baylor