May 20, 2013

NCAA Championship Notes | Live Scoring

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina women’s golf team will compete this week for the program’s first-ever national title as it tees off on Tuesday at the NCAA Championship. The 72-hole event runs through Friday at the par-72, 6,372-yard layout at the University of Georgia Golf Course in Athens, Ga.

The Gamecocks are making their fourth straight trip to the NCAA Championship, which ties for the fifth longest current streak in the nation. As has been the case during head coach Kalen Harris’ tenure in Columbia, South Carolina has played its best golf of the year during the postseason, finishing third at the SEC Championship and following it up with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA West Regional.

“There are a lot of great teams that are playing very well right now,” Harris said. “We played well last year and have some momentum going in this year after playing well at regionals and playing well at the SEC Championship. We have three returnees from last year’s fifth-place finish. They know they can get it done and can contend for the national championship. However, I think we need to put things in perspective. We need to worry about the way we play. We can’t control the way other teams are playing. We need to choose to be mentally tougher than everybody else and handle adversity better than everybody else. If we can handle adversity well and keep our attitudes right, then we are going to have a successful week.”

This year’s championship lineup has a familiar look to it when compared to last season’s top five at the Vanderbilt Legends Club. Junior Suzie Lee, senior Meredith Swanson and sophomore Justine Dreher all played key roles in leading the Gamecocks to a fifth-place finish a year ago at the NCAA Championship and will look to have a repeat performance in Athens. Freshmen Sarah Schmelzel and Mary Fran Hillow round out the lineup.

Lee enters the week with the team’s second-lowest stroke average (75.33) after leading the way at the West Regional with a tie for 14th finish. Swanson, who finished in a tie for 18th at the West Regional, is making her ninth tournament appearance of the season with a stroke average of 7.41. Schmelzel, an SEC All-Freshman Team selection, leads the team with a scoring average of 74.57 and is tied for the team lead with three top-20 finishes. Dreher has played in all 10 tournaments this season, ranks third on the team with a stroke average of 75.54 and is tied for the team lead with three top-20 finishes. Hillow is making her seventh straight tournament appearance and enters the week with a stroke average of 77.44.

All 24 teams in this year’s NCAA Championship field enter the week ranked in the Golfstat Top 50. Top-ranked Southern California and defending national champion Alabama highlight the field. South Carolina is one of seven SEC programs to make the championship along with Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. Arizona, Arizona State, UC Davis, UCLA, Duke, Michigan State, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Purdue, San Jose State, Stanford, Texas, Tulane and Wisconsin round out the field. The Gamecocks have competed against every team in the field at least once this season and have a 15-48 head-to-head record against those teams.

The Gamecocks are making their 13th NCAA Championship appearance all-time. At last year’s championship, Carolina delivered the program’s best finish ever at the event, claiming fifth place with rounds of 302-281-300-293=1176 (+24), which is the lowest 72-hole score in school history. Individually, Katie Burnett is the most decorated individual in Gamecock NCAA Championship history with a tie for 9th showing in 2010 and a fifth-place finish in 2012, which is the best individual NCAA Championship finish in school history.

Carolina tees off in the first round on Tuesday at 12:55 p.m. and will be paired with Florida and Oklahoma State. Live scoring will be available all four days through Golfstat. A live webcast will be available for the final two rounds at NCAA.com, beginning at noon both days and continuing through the final putt of the day. There will be tee-to-green coverage of holes 17 and 18, with additional coverage of the No. 9 green as warranted.