Oct. 11, 2012

Tournament Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s golf team has played one of the toughest schedules in the country so far this season, and the difficult stretch will continue on Friday at the Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Gamecocks open play Friday morning at the par-72, 6,285-yard UNC Finley Golf Course and will wrap up the event on Sunday. The 18-team field features 13 squads ranked in the Golfstat Top 50. After this weekend’s event, South Carolina will have competed against 44 top-50 teams in its three tournaments, making its schedule the third toughest in the country according to Golfweek.

“It’s something that I do every year. We play a very difficult schedule,” South Carolina head coach Kalen Harris said. “It helps put our year in perspective and helps us get better. It doesn’t give us any false reality of where we are at a certain time. Progressively we get better throughout the year.”

After finishing 18th last week at the NCAA Fall Preview, the Gamecocks will look to bounce back with the same lineup in Chapel Hill. Senior Meredith Swanson, juniors Samantha Swinehart and Suzie Lee, sophomore Justine Dreher and freshman Sarah Schmelzel will be making their third straight appearance this season. South Carolina was also allotted an individual spot for the tournament and will send freshman Chelsey Couch onto the course for her collegiate debut.

Schmelzel has been the Gamecocks’ most consistent golfer this season. She was South Carolina’s top finisher in its first two tournaments, including a tie for 20th showing last week at the NCAA Fall Preview. Schmelzel, who leads the team with a 73.17 stroke average, has climbed to No. 59 in the Golfstat player rankings.

“She’s just a very steady player,” Harris said. “From tee to green, she is extremely solid and doesn’t miss to many shots. She’s just really fun to watch. She’s a round away from having her putter get really hot and put up some really, really low numbers. I’m really proud of the performance she’s had in our first two events.”

The Gamecocks are making their eighth straight appearance at the Tar Heel Invitational and their 25th overall. South Carolina finished 11th at last year’s tournament, as Katie Burnett led the way with a tie for 21st finish with rounds of 68-73-78=219 (+3). The program’s best finish in Chapel Hill was a third-place showing in 1998.

No. 4 Florida highlights the field, which includes seven teams from the SEC. Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, LSU and Mississippi make up the rest of the SEC contingent. Baylor, Colorado, Duke, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, host North Carolina, North Carolina State, UCF, Virginia and Wake Forest round out the field.

The first round begins Friday at 8:51 a.m. with teams teeing off on No. 1 and No. 10. Live scoring will be available by clicking here.