Feb. 11, 2016

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – South Carolina women’s golf opens its spring season at the fourth annual Florida State Match-Up in Tallahassee, Fla. The 54-hole event, which is hosted by Florida State, takes place from Fri., Feb. 12 – Sun., Feb. 14 at the Don Veller Seminole Golf Course and Club. The Gamecocks won the tournament in 2014 with a final score of 7-over (293-293-285=871) before finishing fourth at the event last season.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
Dates: Fri., Feb. 12 – Sun., Feb. 14
Location: Tallahassee, Fla.
Course: Don Veller Seminole Golf Course and Club
Format: 54-hole stroke play
The Lineup: Sarah Schmelzel, Ainhoa Olarra, Jia Xin Yang, Marion Veysseyre, Katelyn Dambaugh
The Field: Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Furman, James Madison, Kansas State, Missouri, South Carolina, SMU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia, Virginia Tech
Live Scoring: GolfStat

Tournament Notes

FROM THE COACH
“The team has worked hard, and they are ready to go. We are looking forward to kicking off the spring season this week.” – Kalen Anderson

HISTORY AT THE FSU MATCH-UP
South Carolina has competed at the FSU Match-Up in each of the last two seasons. The Gamecocks won the tournament in 2014 with a final score of 7-over (293-293-285=871), edging rival Clemson by two strokes. All five South Carolina golfers finished in the top 16, including Sarah Schmelzel, who earned runner-up honors after totaling a 4-under (70-72-70=212). Last season, the Gamecocks finished fourth in the event with a score of 20-over (292-299-293=884), and Schmelzel (T9, +2) once again finished in the top ten.

FALL WRAP-UP
The Gamecocks, who competed in four events during the fall, saw a strong finish to their year when they fired a season-low 283 (-5) in the final round of the Landfall Tradition. South Carolina’s ninth-place finish at the event marked the second top-10 showing of the fall for the Gamecocks, who placed ninth at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate (Sept. 27-29). Junior Katelyn Dambaugh paced South Carolina with two top-three finishes and a 71.92 stroke average this fall, while Sarah Schmelzel finished in the top 20 in two events. The senior’s 6-under (70-69-71=210) at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate marked the lowest 54-hole total in her collegiate career.

BREAKING DOWN THE FIELD
South Carolina will face seven teams ranked in the top 50 in the latest Golfweek Poll, including four of the top 25 schools (No. 16 Tennessee, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 20 Virginia, No. 23 Missouri) in the nation. Furman enters the spring ranked No. 30, while the host Seminoles (No. 34) and SMU (No. 44) round out the remaining top-50 programs in action at the FSU Match-Up. The Gamecocks have already competed against Virginia, Tennessee and Texas A&M this season.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS
South Carolina continues its spring slate next month when it hosts the fifth annual Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at Long Cove Club in Hilton Head, S.C. The 54-hole event, which features 17 of the country’s top women’s golf programs, gets underway on Fri., March 4. The Gamecocks have finished in the top five of the event in each of the last two seasons.