Gamecock Women's Golf Set for SEC Championship

April 17, 2014

Notes | Live Scoring | Tournament Central

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s golf team will begin postseason play on Friday when it tees off in the first round of the SEC Championship in Birmingham, Ala. The 54-hole event runs through Sunday at the par-72, 6,050-yard Founders Course at Greystone Golf and Country Club.

The Gamecocks head to the SEC Championship after one of their best regular seasons in program history. South Carolina claimed first place at two tournaments and recorded seven-straight top-five finishes. The consistency throughout the regular season has earned them top-ten rankings across the board as the Gamecocks enter postseason play ranked No. 6 by Golfstat and No. 10 in both the Golf World/WGCA Division I College Women’s Coaches Poll and the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

“We’ve just kept doing our thing,” said head coach Kalen Harris. “We stuck to our system and its worked for us, we’ve improved every day and every event. We really just stayed in the moment and that’s what we need to keep doing as we move to the postseason.”

Harris’ lineup will feature the same group that brought home a victory at the PING ASU Invitational to close out the regular season. After finishing the tournament tied for third, senior Samantha Swinehart will hold the top spot in the lineup. Junior Justine Dreher, freshman Katelyn Dambaugh, sophomore Sarah Schmelzel and senior Suzie Lee will also represent the Gamecocks in Birmingham. Swinehart, Dreher and Lee will all be making their third career trip to the SEC Championship.

Samantha Swinehart has been a major factor in the team’s success during the regular season. She currently leads the team with a stroke average of 73.30 and has tallied a team-best four top-ten finishes, two of those in the top five. “It’s so great to see Samantha have her best season her senior year,” said Harris. “To have her play her strongest golf this last year and have her leadership shine is such a big deal.”

Justine Dreher and Sarah Schmelzel have consistently been in the lineup throughout the season. “They’re both very steady,” said Harris. “Justine has come back from a really difficult back injury and for her to play the way she’s played and do the things she’s done is really remarkable.” Dreher finished the regular season with a team leading ten rounds of par or better and three top-ten finishes while Schmelzel recorded a second place finish and a new career-best low 54-hole score of 212.

In her first year with the Garnet and Black, Katelyn Dambaugh has been a standout. She owns the second lowest stroke average on the team entering the postseason with a 73.60 and has recoded three top-10 finishes. Suzie Lee was one of four Gamecocks to record a round in the 60s this season, firing a 68 in the third round of the Cougar Classic to finish in the top 20.

The Gamecocks will be making their 23rd appearance in the SEC Championship. Last year, South Carolina finished in third place with a score of 918. The Gamecocks best finish came in 2002 as they won the program’s sole SEC title with a score of 861, which was a program record for low 54-hole score until this season the when Gamecocks carded an 853 at the PING ASU Invitational. Former All-American Kristy McPherson played a key role in South Carolinas’ victory in 2002 as she claimed the individual title with a score of 209. McPherson also won medalist honors in 2001 with a score of 207, which still stands as an SEC Tournament record.

The SEC has become one of the premier women’s golf conferences in the country. Ten of the 14 teams in the conference are ranked in the Golfstat top-50, with seven of the teams boasting top-25 rankings. No. 4 Arkansas enters the tournament with the highest national ranking while South Carolina and Alabama come in just a few spots behind at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively. No. 13 Vanderbilt, No. 16 LSU, No. 19 Florida, No. 22 Auburn, No. 29 Mississippi State, No. 30 Kentucky and No. 36 Texas A&M round out the top-50 teams in the field.

South Carolina has competed against every SEC team at least once during the regular season, compiling a 25-8-1 record. Ten of the 14 teams have won at least one tournament during the regular season and six teams recorded eight or more top-ten finishes.

Georgia owns the record for most SEC titles with 11, followed by Auburn (9), Florida (8), defending champion Alabama (2), South Carolina (1), LSU (1) and Vanderbilt (1).

The Gamecocks will tee off in the first round on Friday beginning at 9:40 a.m. CT. Live scoring is available all three days of the tournament through Golfstat