May 24, 2016
EUGENE, Ore. – South Carolina fell to Stanford, 3-2, in the match play quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship on Tuesday at Eugene Country Club. The Gamecocks’ postseason run resulted in a seventh-place result at the tournament, their second-highest finish ever at the NCAA Championship.
Tuesday’s match between South Carolina and Stanford came down to the wire after Gamecock freshman Marion Veysseyre birdied the par-3 16th to move to just 1-down of Stanford’s Mariah Stackhouse. The two golfers each earned pars on No. 17, and the Cardinal secured the win after Stackhouse stuck her approach shot to less than two feet on their final hole. Veysseyre missed her birdie putt from off the green on No. 18 before conceding the hole.
Junior Katelyn Dambaugh and sophomore Ainhoa Olarra both earned points for the Gamecocks on Tuesday. Dambaugh defeated Stanford’s Sierra Kersten, 1-up, after converting her downhill par putt on the par-4 18th, while Olarra downed Shannon Aubert, 4&3. Both golfers finished the stroke play portion of the NCAA Championship with top-15 finishes.
South Carolina Results
- No. 1 Katelyn Dambaugh — Defeated Stanford’s Sierra Kersten, 1-up
- No. 2 Sarah Schmelzel — Lost to Stanford’s Casey Danielson, 4&3
- No. 3 Ainhoa Olarra — Defeated Stanford’s Shannon Aubert, 4&3
- No. 4 Marion Veysseyre — Lost To Stanford’s Mariah Stackhouse, 2-up
- No. 5 Isidora Nilsson — Lost To Stanford’s Lauren Kim, 6&5
NCAA Match Play Quarterfinals
- No. 1 UCLA defeats No. 8 Oregon, 4-0-1
- No. 2 Stanford defeats No. 7 South Carolina, 3-2
- No. 6 Duke defeats No. 3 Southern California, 4-1
- No. 4 Washington defeats No. 5 Virginia, 3-1-1
Quoting Coach Kalen Anderson
“I’m so proud of this group. They played with so much heart and toughness all week. We took Stanford down to the last hole, but came up just shy of winning. It’s disappointing, but we have so much to hold our heads high about.”
Round Changer
Freshman Marion Veysseyre stuck her tee shot on the par-3 16th to within five feet of the hole and made birdie to apply pressure to Stanford down the stretch. She narrowly missed her birdie putt on No. 17 before settling for a 1-up loss to Stanford’s Mariah Stackhouse.
Notable
- This season marked South Carolina’s third top-10 finish at the NCAA Championship in program history. The Gamecocks tied for 9th in 1995 and placed fifth in 2012.
- Both of the Gamecocks’ top-two finishes at the NCAA Championship have come under coach Kalen Anderson.
- South Carolina’s 294.19 stroke average in 2015-16 was its third-lowest single-season scoring mark in program history.
- Junior Katelyn Dambaugh’s 71.62 stroke average broke the program record for the best single-season scoring mark. Sarah Schmelzel’s 73.21 stroke average stands as the fifth-best mark in a season in school history.
- Schmelzel ends her collegiate career with South Carolina’s fourth-best career scoring average (74.25).