Oct. 8, 2011

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The South Carolina women’s golf team shot a 299 (+11) on Saturday in the second round of the Tar Heel Invitational at the UNC Finley Golf Course and finished the day in 11th place with a two-round score of 588 (+12).

Freshman Justine Dreher, who is playing as an individual in her first tournament as a Gamecock, made the biggest move up the leaderboard on Saturday. She fired a 4-under 68, the lowest round ever by a Gamecock freshman, to move from a tie for 64th into a tie for 17th with a two-day total of 145 (+1).

Dreher, whose score does not count toward the team total, recorded three birdies and six pars on the front nine to make the turn at 3-under. She birdied the 13th to move to 4-under but gave the stroke back with a bogey at the 15th. However, Dreher made her fifth birdie of the day at the 17th to end the round at 4-under.

Senior Katie Burnett, who shot 68 on Friday, posted a 1-over 73. She had another stellar round going Saturday as she made the turn at 33 (-3), but double bogey’s at the 14th and 16th holes dropped her to 1-over, where she finished the day. Burnett’s two-day score of 141 (-3) has her in a tie for eighth heading into the final round. She is six strokes back of Alabama’s Hannah Collier, who leads the tournament with a score of 135 (-9).

Sophomore Katie Rose Higgins carded a 2-over 74 on Saturday and is tied for 54th with a score of 151 (+7). Higgins shot 36 (E) on the front side but made two bogeys and seven pars on the back nine to wrap up her round at 2-over.

Junior Amanda Strang posted a 75 (+3) and is tied for 66th with a score of 152 (+8). She began her day with eight straight pars before recording birdie on the par-4 ninth to make the turn at 1-under. Strang struggled on the back side with bogeys on the 10th, 11th and 12th holes and a bogey at the 18th to end her round at 3-over.

Sophomore Suzie Lee and junior Meredith Swanson carded rounds of 77 (+5) and 79 (+7), respectively, and are tied for 48th with a score of 150 (+6).

Defending champion Alabama and LSU are tied atop the leaderboard with a score of 569 (-7), followed by host North Carolina (576), Auburn (577) and North Carolina State (580).

The Gamecocks are paired with Virginia and Duke for the final round, which gets underway with a shotgun start at 9:15 a.m. on Sunday. Live scoring is available at golfstatresults.com.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
8. Katie Burnett 68-73=141
T48. Meredith Swanson 71-79=150
T48. Suzie Lee 73-77=150
T54. Katie Rose Higgins 77-74=151
T66. Amanda Strang 77-75=152
* T17. Justine Dreher 77-68=145
*Playing as an individual.

TEAM STANDINGS
T1. Alabama 569 (-7)
T1. LSU 569 (-7)
3. North Carolina 576 (E)
4. Auburn 577 (+1)
5. North Carolina State 580 (+4)
T6. Georgia 581 (+5)
T6. Wake Forest 581 (+5)
8. Michigan State 582 (+6)
9. Tennessee 583 (+7)
10. Duke 585 (+9)
11. South Carolina 588 (+12)
12. Virginia 589 (+13)
13. Louisville 592 (+16)
14. Tulane 595 (+19)
15. Coastal Carolina 600 (+24)
16. Arkansas 602 (+26)
17. Chattanooga 604 (+28)
18. Notre Dame 612 (+36)