Katelyn Dambaugh Aims To Defend Medalist Honors At North-South Amateur

July 10, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s golf standout Katelyn Dambaugh returns to Pinehurst No. 2 this week for the 114^th Women’s North & South Amateur Championship, set to take place July 11-15 in Pinehurst, N.C.

Dambaugh, Golfweek’s No. 2 ranked amateur in the world, earned medalist honors at the tournament last year, posting a 54-hole total of 218 (+5). The Goose Creek, S.C., native used the tournament’s only round under par (68, -3) on the final day of stroke play to finish atop the leaderboard and grab the top seed in the match-play bracket. Victories in the opening two rounds landed her in the semifinals, where she fell, 3&2.

“I’m excited to be back at this event,” Dambaugh said. “It’s a great one to play in, and I love the course. It’s going to be very challenging, but I’m using the tournament to start getting back into playing competition after a much-needed break.”

Following Sunday’s practice round, the golfers open play at the North & South Amateur on Monday. Stroke play wraps up on Wednesday when this year’s medalist is crowned and the field of 90 golfers is cut to a 16-player match play bracket. The Round of 16 and quarterfinals are set for Thursday before the semifinals and 18-hole final take place on Friday. To compete in the tournament, a golfer must have a handicap index of 5.0 or less.

Dambaugh, who tees off tomorrow at 7:45 a.m., emerged into one of the most consistent golfers in the country this past season. She notched six top-five finishes, the most by a junior in program history, and her 71.62 stroke average ranked second in Division I and stood as the lowest single-season mark for a South Carolina golfer. The WGCA First-Team All-American claimed her first collegiate medalist honors at the 2016 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional when she matched the school’s low 54-hole total (207, -9) to help the Gamecocks secure their fourth regional title in the last seven years.