May 22, 2015

BRADENTON, Fla. – No. 2 South Carolina was among 12 of the 24 teams to finish the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship before play was halted due to weather. Sophomore Katelyn Dambaugh led the Gamecocks ¬with a 2-under 70 at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla. As a team, South Carolina carded a 308 (+20) to place sixth amongst those that finished their rounds.

Of the teams still on the course, Stanford leads at 3-over while Baylor is third at 7-over. Both teams finished at least 11 holes before play was suspended at 7:15 p.m. after the second of two lightning delays. A few of the second-wave pairings finished, but many teams that started in the afternoon had more than half of the back 9 still to play. Duke posted the best round of the teams that completed the first round, posting a 5-over 293.

Dambaugh was strong on the front nine, posting eight-straight pars before carding her first birdie of the day at No. 9 to make the turn at 1-under. The sophomore went 1-under on the back nine with three birdies and two bogeys to finish the day at 2-under.

Senior Justine Dreher made the turn at 2-over after carding bogeys on No. 3 and No. 9. She made up a stroke with a birdie on No. 12, but hit a rough stretch, going 4-over in a three-hole span before getting one back with a birdie on No. 17 to finish with a 4-over 76.

A difficult start did not deter sophomore Jia Xin Yang. After going 3-over on her first three holes, Yang went 1-under over her next five holes. The Gamecock wrapped up the day with a 7-over 79. Junior Mary Fran Hillow made the turn at 7-over and turned in a better back nine, going 4-over. Hillow turned in an 11-over 83.

The Gamecocks dropped Sarah Schmelzel’s score. The junior struggled for most of the day, posting a 13-over 85. It was her first round in the 80s this season.

The second half of the field is set to finish the first round tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m. and the second round is slated to start at 9 a.m.

NOTABLES

• Today’s round is the highest turned in by the Gamecocks since the team also carded a 308 at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic on March 27, 2015. The scores mark the only to occasions that South Carolina has carded a team score of 300 or higher.

UP NEXT The Gamecocks will tee off with No. 1 Southern Cal and No. 3 UCLA for the second straight day. The three teams will tee off in the second round of the NCAA Championships tomorrow. The three teams will not begin play until 2:30 p.m. at the earliest. Follow live scoring here.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS

Katelyn Dambaugh 70 (-2)
Justine Dreher 76 (+4)
Jia Xin Yang 79 (+7)
Mary Fran Hillow 83 (+11)
Sarah Schmelzel 85 (+13)

TEAM STANDINGS 1. Stanford +3 (11-14)
2. Duke 293 +5 F
3. Baylor +7 (11-14)
4. Southern California 297 +9 F
5. Arizona 300 +12 F
T6. Northwestern +13 (11-14)
T6. Washington 301 +13 F
T6. Tennessee 301 +13 F
T6. Alabama +13 (15-18)
T10. NC State +14 (10-13)
T10. Campbell +14 (10-13)
T10. Purdue +14 (15-18)
13. UNLV +17 (16-18)
14. UC Davis +19 (16-18)
15. South Carolina 308 +20 F
T16. California +21 (10-13)
T16. Virginia 309 +21 F
T16. LSU 309 +21
T16. Texas A&M 309 +21
T20. Wake Forest 310 +22 F
T20. Tulane +22 (16-18)
T20. Arkansas 310 +22 F
23. Texas Tech +26 (15-18)
24. UCLA 319 +31 F