Feb. 14, 2016

Final Results | Photo Gallery

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The South Carolina women’s golf team posted its best finish of the 2015-16 season, earning second-place honors at the FSU Match-Up with an overall score of 11-over 875. The Gamecocks, who began the final round atop the leaderboard, fired a 5-over 293 on Sunday and finished four strokes behind tournament champion Florida State.

Two South Carolina golfers, junior Katelyn Dambaugh and senior Sarah Schmelzel, notched top-five finishes in the 54-hole event. Dambaugh totaled a score of 215 (-1) to finish in a tie for second on the individual leaderboard, while Schmelzel was fourth after boasting a three-day total of 216 (E).

Dambaugh turned in her best round of the weekend on Sunday, tallying a 2-under 70. She played her opening nine holes at even after recording two birdies and two bogeys, and the Goose Creek, S.C., native opened the back nine with a birdie on the par-5 10^th. An eagle on hole No. 15 dropped her to 2-under on the day, and she responded to a bogey on No. 16 with her fourth birdie of the day on the par-3 17^th. Dambaugh’s performance this weekend marked the seventh top-five finish of her career.

Schmelzel continued her steady play at South Carolina’s spring opener, as she registered pars on 13 of 18 holes in the final round. She made the turn at 1-over 37 and notched her 10^th birdie of the tournament on the par-4 16^th to finish the day with a 73 (+1). Her fourth-place showing was the senior’s best finish of the season.

Ainhoa Olarra’s impressive week concluded with a top-10 finish, as she ended the tournament in a tie for eighth place. The sophomore shook off a pair of early bogeys with a birdie on the par-3 eighth, and another birdie on No. 10 helped her record a score of 3-over 75 on the final day. Olarra’s three-day score of 219 (+3) was the lowest 54-hole total in her career.

Junior Jia Xin Yang finished in a tie for 43^rd with an overall score of 16-over 232, while freshman Marion Veysseyre tallied a three-day total of 237 (+21) to finish in a tie for 57^th in her first tournament as a Gamecock. Yang recovered from a 6-over 42 on her front nine on Sunday, notching four birdies over her final nine holes to post a 5-over 77. Veysseyre registered two birdies on her way to a final-round score of 3-over 75.

The host Seminoles posted a 3-under 285 on Sunday, as they rallied to move past South Carolina and finish first at 7-over 871. Furman (890, +26) ended in third place, while SMU (894, +3) and Texas A&M (898, +34) rounded out the top five. The Aggies’ Maddie Szeryk won medalist honors after totaling a score of 5-under 211 for the tournament.

NOTABLES
>> South Carolina was the only school to have two golfers (Katelyn Dambaugh, Sarah Schmelzel) finish in the top five individually.
>> Schmelzel has finished in the top 10 at the FSU Match-Up in all three of her appearances at the event.
>> Ainhoa Olarra’s 3-over 219 total gave the sophomore the first top-10 finish of her career.
>> The Gamecocks and Seminoles finished the weekend with the top par-3 scoring (3.10) among the field.

HEAD COACH Kalen Anderson
“The team fought hard today, but it was Florida State’s day. FSU put together a great round. We beat a lot of good teams by a substantial margin. Overall, this is a great starting point to the spring.”

UP NEXT
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 past two seasons.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T2. Katelyn Dambaugh 74-71-70=215 (-1)
4. Sarah Schmelzel 74-69-73=216 (E)
T8. Ainhoa Olarra 74-70-75=219 (+3)
T43. Jia Xin Yang 80-75-77=232 (+16)
T57. Marion Veysseyre 75-87-75=237 (+21)

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Florida State 293-293-285=871 (+7)
2. South Carolina 297-285-293=875 (+11)
3. Furman 298-290-302=890 (+26)
4. SMU 297-300-297=894 (+30)
5. Texas A&M 298-299-301=898 (+34)
6. Coastal Carolina 297-309-293=899 (+35)
7. Missouri 309-297-294=900 (+36)
8. Tennessee 303-300-302=905 (+41)
9. Virginia 305-298-306=909 (+45)
10. Kansas State 309-305-304=918 (+54)
11. Virginia Tech 307-310-304=921 (+57)
12. James Madison 318-318-305=941 (+77)