March 27, 2014

Tournament Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s golf team opens play on Friday at the Bryan National Collegiate in Greensboro, N.C., co-hosted by Wake Forest and UNC Greensboro. The 54-hole event runs through Sunday on the Champions Course at the Bryan Park Golf and Enrichment Center, which features a par-72, 6,386 yard layout.

After finishing in 5th place the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, South Carolina is currently No. 8 in the Golfstat rankings, tied for No. 12 in the Golf World/WGCA Division I College Women’s Coaches Poll and No. 13 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

The Gamecocks have placed in the top-10 at every tournament this season, including five straight top-five finishes and Coach Kalen Harris hopes to keep building on their accomplishments. “[This weekend] I’m looking for continued success and continued improvement,” said Harris. “We’re just looking to go in there and give ourselves a chance to contend for the title.”

Junior Justine Dreher holds the top spot in this weekend’s lineup. Katelyn Dambaugh, Samantha Swinehart, Sarah Schmelzel and Mary Fran Hillow complete the lineup in the two through five spots, respectively. Suzie Lee will also make the trip to Greensboro and compete as an individual.

This weekend will mark South Carolina’s 12th straight appearance in the Bryan National Collegiate. Last year the Gamecocks shot an 893 (+29) and took 8th place. Sarah Schmelzel claimed third place on the individual leaderboard in 2013 with a 1-under 215. The best finish for the Garnet and Black at this tournament is sixth place, which occurred in both 2012 and 2009.

Thirteen of the 18 teams are ranked in the Golfstat top-50 with two top-10 teams highlighting the field in No. 3 Duke and No. 8 South Carolina. The Gamecocks will meet in-state rival No. 13 Clemson for the fifth time this season and face two other SEC schools as No. 18 Florida and Tennessee make the trip to Greensboro. No. 17 Northwestern, No. 19 Wake Forest No. 22 Michigan State, No. 23 NC State, No. 26 Ohio State, No. 27 North Carolina, No. 31 Virginia, No. 38 Louisville and No. 39 Florida State round out the top-50 teams in the field. Also competing this weekend are College of Charleston, Penn State, UNC Wilmington and UNC Greensboro.

Harris likes the challenge a deep field presents to her team. “That’s what we try to do all year [compete against the best teams],” said Harris. “I try to prepare them against the best competition in the country and this is a top-ranked field. We’ll face a lot of ranked teams this weekend and that prepares us and gives us a chance to know what to expect going to the postseason.”

First round play begins Friday with the Gamecocks set to tee off at 9:05 a.m. Live scoring will be available here