July 9, 2016

Final Results

URRIDAVOLLUR, Iceland – South Carolina women’s golf rising junior Ainhoa Olarra and Spain earned runner-up honors at the 2016 European Ladies’ Amateur Team Championship on Saturday.

Olarra split her two matches on the final day of the event for the top-seeded Spanish, which fell to England in the finals, 4-3, at Oddur Golf Club. The San Sebastian, Spain, native and Harang Lee grabbed the first point of the day in their doubles match, capturing a 1-up victory over England’s Alice Hewson and Meghan MacLaren. The English tallied the other point in doubles play before the match shifted to five individual contests.

Olarra drew Bronte Law, the 2016 WGCA Player of the Year and Golfweek’s No. 1 ranked amateur in the world. The two battled back-and-forth, and Olarra pulled even with Law shortly after the turn. The match came down to the final hole, where Law claimed a 1-up victory.

Spain earned the top seed in the eight-team Flight A bracket after finishing first (730, +10) in the 36-hole stroke play portion of the tournament. Four Spanish golfers finished in the top-15, including Olarra, who carded a 2-under 70 on Wednesday to post a two-round score of 147 (+3). Once in match play, the Spanish moved past Finland in the quarterfinals before dispatching Germany in Friday’s semifinal round. Olarra won two of her three individual matches during the competition.

Fellow Gamecock and France native Marion Veysseyre was also in action at the European Team Amateur. She carded an opening-round 71 (-1) and entered the final day of stroke play just two shots off the lead. Veysseyre finished in a tie for 56^th with a 36-hole score of 152 (+8), while France placed 10^th (759, +39) to earn a spot in the Flight B bracket. The French defeated Iceland, 3-2, in the quarterfinal round before falling to Italy in the semifinals. Veysseyre went 1-1 in her matches in France’s run to the semifinals.