Aug. 28, 2014

Live Scoring | Tournament Notes

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Coming off one of the most successful seasons in school history, the South Carolina men’s golf team will look to continue the success as it opens the 2014-15 season on Friday at The Carmel Cup in Pebble Beach, Calif.

The 54-hole event will be held at the historic Pebble Beach Golf Links. With seven golfers returning, including all five from last year’s postseason run, the Gamecocks have hopes of being in the national championship mix once again at the end of the year. Carolina finished ninth at the NCAA Championship last year, which is the second-best finish at the event in program history. During the regular season, the Gamecocks matched the school record with nine top-five finishes in 12 events, including three tournament wins. At one point during the season, the Gamecocks reeled off a school-record seven straight top-three finishes.

South Carolina head coach Bill McDonald, who enters his eighth season at the helm of the program, is anxious to see his team back in action, especially after another outstanding summer playing in amateur events. Three Gamecocks qualified for the U.S. Amateur, one qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur and the golfers combined for six top-10 finishes at amateur events.

“I think it’s a carryover of how we played in the spring,” McDonald said. “Hopefully, it’s a sign that everybody is playing well at the beginning of the fall. I was proud of the guys for how they played. I’m really excited about what I’ve seen so far since they’ve been back in school.”

The format at The Carmel Cup is different than most tournaments the Gamecocks will play in, as six golfers will play for each team with five scores counting. McDonald will have a very experienced lineup at Pebble Beach, with all six golfers having NCAA Championship experience. Senior Will Murphy, who was a PING Honorable Mention All-American last season, will occupy the No. 1 spot. Senior Caleb Sturgeon will play at No. 2 after recording four top-20 finishes a year ago. Juniors Matt NeSmith and Will Starke, who both had seven top-20 finishes last season, will play at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Sophomore Ben Dietrich is at No. 5 after turning in four top-20 finishes last season, and junior Sean Kelly will be at No. 6. The tournament will be Kelly’s first since the 2013 NCAA Championship after sitting out last season to recover from an injury.

The field may only have eight teams (four SEC, four Big 12), but those teams are among the best in the nation. The Gamecocks, who finished ranked No. 14 in the final Golfstat Rankings last year, will be playing against seven teams ranked in the Golfstat Top 50, including five in the top 20. Second-ranked Oklahoma State headlines the field after finishing runner-up to Alabama at the NCAA Championship last year. Fifth-ranked Georgia, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Arkansas, No. 40 Texas Tech and No. 49 TCU round out the field. The Gamecocks had an 8-4 head-to-head record against these teams last season.

Pebble Beach Golf Links, which plays at par 72 and 7,040 yards from the U.S. Open tees, is one of the most famous golf courses in the world. It’s the No. 1 ranked public course in America by Golf Digest and has hosted five U.S. Open Championships, most recently in 2010. In all Pebble Beach has hosted nine USGA championships.

The Gamecocks are slated to begin teeing off at 1 p.m. ET on Friday and will be paired with TCU, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Live scoring will be available all three days through GOLFSTAT.