Aug. 4, 2011

South Carolina’ women’s golfers Meredith Swanson and Samantha Swinehart closed out the 2nd Annual Hooters Women’s Collegiate Team Championship Presented by the National Golf Coaches Association in 25th place Thursday afternoon. Aggregate scoring in the final round saw the Gamecocks shoot 5-over to drop one shot out of their previous tie for 23rd. Swinehart will continue her summer play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship Aug. 8-14.

Swanson and Swinehart were turning in identical rounds through four holes, sitting on 1-under. Swanson was the first to stumble with bogeys on two of the next three holes, but recovered to make the turn at 1-over par. Swinehart was just a stroke behind her teammate heading into the back nine, and she rallied with a pair of birdies on Nos. 11 and 12. She stayed even down the stretch until a double-bogey on the 18th hole set her back to 74 (+2). Swanson also dropped a pair of birdies on the back nine, but they were sprinkled in with four bogeys that left her with a round of 75 (+3).

The duo’s combined 149 was tied with four other teams as the 21st lowest score of the round. Overall, South Carolina’s 294 for the tournament landed them in 25th place, staying in the top half of the field. Michigan State’s duo of Caroline Powers and Lindsey Solberg claimed the title by one stroke as its total of 276 edged out tandems from Vanderbilt and Virginia.