Oct. 27, 2011

Tournament Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s golf team will play in its final tournament of the fall schedule this weekend at the Landfall Tradition in Wilmington, N.C.

The 54-hole tournament runs Friday through Sunday at the par-72, 6,208-yard Jack Nicklaus Course at the Country Club of Landfall. South Carolina head coach Kalen Harris is expecting her team to wrap up the fall in strong fashion after playing in three of the most challenging tournaments in the country to open the season.

“We’ve played a lot of great golf,” Harris said. “I think that we are due for a good tournament. All fall we have played quite well but just haven’t put up some of the numbers that we needed to get the finishes that we wanted. That’s what the game is about. We need to get there for this last event and the spring and we will. I’m very confident in this group.”

Carolina is coming off a 17th-place finish at the SEC/Pac-12 Challenge, where it competed against 14 nationally ranked squads. The Gamecocks improved each day of the event, lowering their first-round score by 17 strokes on the final day. Sophomore Samantha Swinehart posted a season-low 1-under 71 to lead the way in the final round.

“We had a good final round there,” Harris said. “I’m very happy with the way they concluded the event. They showed a lot of character to finish up with a solid final round. It gives us a little momentum going into the final event of the fall.”

The Gamecocks’ lineup for the weekend remains the same as last week, with senior Katie Burnett, juniors Meredith Swanson and Amanda Strang, sophomore Katie Rose Higgins and Swinehart slated to compete in Wilmington. Burnett, who is ranked 51st nationally by Golfweek, is the team leader with a scoring average of 72.89. Swanson has been a steady contributor to the lineup with a stroke average of 74.33, while Strang has an average of 75. Higgins (76) and Swinehart (76.50) continue to lower their scoring averages each week.

Carolina has 25-35 overall record this season and a 6-11 mark against teams competing in the Landfall Tradition. The Gamecocks will face 17 teams this weekend with No. 5 North Carolina highlighting the field, followed by No. 6 Virginia, No. 8 Purdue, No. 11 Duke, No. 16 Auburn, No. 21 Michigan State, No. 23 North Carolina State and No. 24 Wake Forest. SEC foe Mississippi, Chattanooga, Florida State, Iowa State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Tulane and host UNC Wilmington are also in the field.

This marks the second appearance for South Carolina at the Landfall Tradition. The Gamecocks finished 11th at last year’s event. Burnett led the way with a tie for 22nd finish with rounds of 72-74-79=225 (+9).

The Gamecocks are paired with Virginia and Iowa State for Friday’s first round and will tee off beginning at 8:30 a.m. on hole No. 1. Live scoring is available at golfstatresults.com.