May 24, 2015

BRADENTON, Fla. – After finishing the second round in 20th place this morning, No. 2 South Carolina climbed to 13th before darkness suspended the third round of the 2015 NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championship at The Concession Golf Club on Sunday.

The Gamecocks returned to the course at 8:30 this morning to complete yesterday’s weather-suspended second round. South Carolina players had as many as seven holes to complete and ended the round with a 34-over 322 to give them a two-round total of 630 (+54). The score put the Gamecocks in a tie for 20th entering the third round. Senior Justine Dreher and sophomore Katelyn Dambaugh were tied for 30th at 8-over (152) after 36 holes.

South Carolina teed off on No. 10 at 2 p.m. to start the third round and got off to a hot start, climbing to 10th after going 3-under through 2 to 5 holes before play was suspended due to lightening at 3:25 p.m. The teams returned to the course after a 55-minute delay and the Gamecocks continued to blaze through the back nine, reaching 7-under and surging up to sixth place late in the first half of the round before making the turn at 2-under.

On the front nine, South Carolina dropped the pace, falling back to 5-over for the round before play was suspended due to darkness with Gamecock players having up to five holes to finish. With the completion of the second round and the start of the third round, the Gamecocks played as many as 25 holes on Sunday.

Sophomore Jia Xin Yang looks to be on her way to her best round of the weekend. The Gamecock posted seven-straight pars to open the round before carding an eagle on No. 17. She birdied No. 1 after making the turn and played 13 holes of bogey-free golf until carding one on No. 5. Yang is 2-under through 15 third-round holes and climbed 35 spots up the individual leaderboard to tie for 25th (+10). Yang was on the green of No. 7 before play stopped.

Katelyn Dambaugh’s third round started with a pair of birdies and the sophomore finished her first nine holes at 1-under. She posted four-straight pars on the front nine before a bogey on No. 5 broke the streak. The sophomore is even so far through the third round and 8-over for the tournament (T18). Dambaugh’s day will begin on No. 7 tomorrow.

Senior Justine Dreher will have five holes to play when she resumes action on No. 5 at 3-over par for the round. The senior is 11-over after 49 holes of play (T30).

Mary Fran Hillow posted pars on her first two holes before going for birdie on back-to-back holes. She reached 4-under after consecutive birdies on 16 and 17, but triple bogeyed No. 18. Hillow struggled to rebound, going 8-over in a five-hole stretch. With two holes to play, Hillow is 4-over for the third round and 30-over (T114) for the weekend.

Junior Sarah Schmelzel was the only Gamecock to finish the third round, turning in an 80 (+8), her best round of the tournament. She’s 39-over for the weekend (T128).

UP NEXT

To continue on to the final round of stroke play, South Carolina will have to be in the top 15 at the conclusion of the third round tomorrow morning. The Gamecocks (+59, 13th) are playing with two of the other three teams in contention for the final spots in the top 15 in Wake Forest (+60, 14th) and UCLA (+64, 16th). Alabama is in the clubhouse in 15th at 63-over. Play is scheduled to resume at 7:30 a.m. Follow live scoring here.