April 12, 2013

Results

TEMPE, Ariz. — The South Carolina women’s golf team posted its second lowest round of the season on Friday, shooting a 3-over 291 to open play at the PING ASU Invitational at the ASU Karsten Golf Course.

The Gamecocks finished the day in a tie for 10th place with tournament host Arizona State and remain in the mix for a high finish at the prestigious tournament, which features 15 teams ranked in the Golfstat Top 50. Coming off a third-place finish at the Bryan National Collegiate, freshman Sarah Schmelzel continued her stellar play as she led the way on Friday with a career-low 70 (-2) to wrap up the afternoon in a tie for 11th. Senior Meredith Swanson also had a solid round as she carded a 1-under 71 to finish the day in a tie for 19th.

“We are off to a solid start,” South Carolina head coach Kalen Harris said. “Sarah continued her steady play, and Meredith really stepped up for us today. We need to remain patient the next two days and see if we can take advantage of the good scoring conditions.”

A native of Phoenix, Ariz., Schmelzel started her day on the back nine and got off to a hot start. After making par on the 10th and 11th holes, she reeled off three straight birdies to get to 3-under and then made four consecutive pars to make the turn with a 34 (-3). Schmelzel made par on the first hole before recording the only blemish on her scorecard, a bogey on the par-4 second. She carded seven straight pars to close out her round at 2-under.

Swanson, whose round is a season low, bogeyed her second hole of the afternoon, the par-4 11th. After making par on the 12th, she got back to even with a birdie on the 13th and then recorded five pars to wrap up her front nine with a 37 (E). She played the next eight holes at 2-under, making birdie on the second and seventh holes, before bogeying the ninth to drop back to 1-under for the day.

Junior Suzie Lee and freshman Mary Fran Hillow each carded a 3-over 75 and are in a tie for 48th. Lee finished her round with three birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey on her scorecard, while Hillow recorded two birdies and five bogeys. Sophomore Justine Dreher is in a tie for 66th after turning in a 5-over 77, which included two birdies, two bogeys, a double bogey and a triple bogey.

Junior Samantha Swinehart, who is playing as an individual, is in a tie for 77th after shooting a 79 (+7). Swinehart’s round included three birdies, six bogeys and a pair of double bogeys.

Eleventh-ranked UCLA fired a 9-under 279 to take the tournament lead by a stroke over No. 2 Duke (280). Top-ranked Southern California is in third with a score of 283 (-5), followed by No. 3 Alabama (284), No. 16 UC Davis (286) and No. 21 Texas (286). Duke’s Laetitia Beck and Washington’s Jennifer Yang are tied atop the individual leaderboard after each shooting a 5-under 67.

The Gamecocks will begin teeing off in the second round on Saturday at 9:20 a.m. MST and will be paired with Arizona State and TCU. Live scoring will be available through Golfstat.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTST11. Sarah Schmelzel (1)     70 (-2)T19. Meredith Swanson (5)       71 (-1)T48. Suzie Lee (2)         75 (+3)T48. Mary Fran Hillow (4)       75 (+3)T66. Justine Dreher (3)           77 (+5)*T77. Samantha Swinehart      79 (+7)*Playing as an individual
TEAM STANDINGS1. UCLA                 279 (-9)2. Duke                 280 (-8)3. Southern California          283 (-5)4. Alabama              284 (-4)T5. Texas               286 (-2)T5. UC Davis                286 (-2)7. Texas A&M                287 (-1)8. Arizona              288 (E)9. Stanford                 289 (+1)T10. South Carolina          291 (+3)T10. Arizona State          291 (+3)T12. TCU                292 (+4)T12. Washington             292 (+4)14. Colorado                298 (+10)15. UNLV                305 (+17)16. Oregon              311 (+23)17. California              313 (+25)