June 11, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Senior Justine Dreher and sophomore Katelyn Dambaugh earned All-America honors from Golfweek, as announced by the organization on Thursday. An honorable mention last year, Dreher earned a First-Team honor, while Dambaugh collected her first nod as an honorable mention. This marks the second-straight season that a pair of Gamecocks have earned All-America honors in the same season after doing so for the first time in program history last year. Dreher is also the first Gamecock to earn first-team honors from both Golfweek and the Women’s Golf Coaches Association.

Dreher was the undisputed leader of the Gamecocks this season and was ranked No. 6 in the GolfStat individual rankings entering the NCAA Championships. With her steady play and low rounds, the two-time First-Team All-SEC honoree led South Carolina with a 72.53 scoring average, the lowest single-season stroke average in school history. The Valbonne, France, native’s consistent play produced six top-five results this season, just one shy of tying the program record. Overall, the senior has nine career top five’s to her name, second most in Gamecock history. Over the last four years, Dreher complied the second-lowest career scoring average in program history at 74.12.

After a solid fall, Dambaugh caught fire in the spring, ending the regular season with a fifth-place finish at the PING ASU Invitational. A second-round 66 spurred the result. She rode the momentum into the following weekend at the SEC Championship, matching a program and SEC Championship record with a second-round 65. The Goose Creek, S.C., native recorded her second-straight top-five finish at the conference event, tying with Dreher for fourth. A Second-Team All-SEC honoree, Dambaugh captured three-top five finishes last season and owns the lowest career scoring average (minimum 55 rounds) in program history with a 73.66 through her first two campaigns with the Gamecocks.

Dreher and Dambaugh either individually or jointly were the top Gamecock finishers at every spring event as the Gamecocks made a run to their sixth-straight NCAA Championship. The pair advanced to the fourth and final round of stroke play and posted career-best NCAA Championship finishes (Dreher, T16; Dambaugh, T32).

2014-15 Golfweek All-Americans
FIRST TEAM
Leona Maguire, Duke
Madelene Sagstrom, LSU
Bronte Law, UCLA
Dana Finkelstein, UNLV
Gaby Lopez, Arkansas
Justine Dreher, South Carolina
Emma Talley, Alabama
Celine Boutier, Duke
Caroline Nistrup, LSU
Hayley Davis, Baylor

SECOND TEAM
Annie Park, USC
Lauren Kim, Stanford
Monica Vaughn, Arizona State
Erynne Lee, UCLA
Kyung Kim, USC
Maria Jose Navarro, Texas A&M
Ally McDonald, Mississippi State
Lindsey Weaver, Arizona
Maddie Szeryk, Texas A&M
Sierra Sims, Wake Forest

THIRD TEAM
Allison Emrey, Wake Forest
Marissa Chow, Pepperdine
Noemi Jimenez, Arizona State
Esther Lee, Colorado
Jennifer Yang, Washington
Dylan Kim, Baylor
Mariah Stackhouse, Stanford
Charlotte Thomas, Washington
Meghan MacLaren, Florida International
Lauren Diaz-Yi, Virginia

HONORABLE MENTION
Eimi Koga, Washington
Caroline Inglis, Oregon
Taylor Totland, Furman
Jenny Hahn, Vanderbilt
Katelyn Dambaugh, South Carolina Manon Gidali, Arizona
Ying Luo, Washington
Gabriella Then, USC
Bertine Strauss, Texas
Krystal Quihuis, Arizona
Paige Lee, UC Davis
Chieh Jessica Peng, Mississippi State
Karolina Vlckova, Florida
Anna Newell, Tennessee
Regina Plasencia, Arkansas
Lucia Polo, Tennessee
Elise Bradley, LSU
Maddie McCrary, Oklahoma State
Sophia Schubert, Auburn
Andrea Wong, UC Davis