Nov. 14, 2016

South Carolina women’s golf enjoyed a successful start to the 2016-17 season this fall, earning a pair of top-five finishes and placing in the top 10 in all four of its events.

The No. 13 Gamecocks, who saw seven golfers in action during the fall, will carry some momentum into the spring after claiming the 2016 Landfall Tradition Title. Carolina posted tournament-record 280 (-8) in the final to erase a seven-shot deficit and pull even with Wake Forest before winning in a scorecard tiebreaker.

In the team’s first event of the fall, the 2016 ANNIKA Intercollegiate, Carolina carded the lowest 18-hole (274, -14) and 54-hole (849, -15) scores in program history. The Gamecocks placed sixth in the event, and they opened October with a seventh-place showing (869, +5) at the 2016 Cougar Classic.

Carolina’s first top-five showing (T5) of the fall came at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational when it posted a 54-hole mark of 873 (+9). Two Gamecocks placed in the top 15, including senior standout Katelyn Dambaugh, who carded a final-round 68 (-4) to finish fifth (212, -4).

Dambaugh led Carolina in every tournament and finished under par in nine of her 12 rounds. The Goose Creek, S.C., native, who ranked seventh in Division I in stroke average (69.83) this fall, earned her fifth career runner-up finish at the Cougar Classic after posting a program-record 206 (-10). Dambaugh also set the school’s low-18 score (64) at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, and she finished her fall with three-straight top-five showings.

Junior Ainhoa Olarra and sophomore Marion Veysseyre marked the other two Gamecocks to compete in all four fall events. Olarra saw top-20 finishes in her last two tournaments, while Veysseyre opened the season with a career-best 216 (E) to finish tied for 27^th at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.

Freshmen Anita Uwadia and Ana Pelaez impressed in their first semester at Carolina, as both golfers finished under par in a tournament. Uwadia posted a 210 (-6) at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate to finish just outside the top 10 (T11), while Pelaez totaled a 215 (-1) at the Landfall Tradition on the way to 11^th-place honors.

Junior Isidora Nilsson and senior Jia Xin Yang were also in action this fall. Nilsson played in two events, and she turned in her second career round of par or better with a second-round 72 (E) at the Cougar Classic. Yang saw time in three events, finishing the fall with a 21^st-place finish (220, +4) at the Landfall Tradition.

The Gamecocks open their spring season in February. The team’s full spring slate will be announced later this month.