No. 11 Gamecocks Open Postseason Play At SEC Championship

April 20, 2017

2017 SEC CHAMPIONSHIP
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TOURNAMENT LINEUP

1. Katelyn Dambaugh
2016-17 Stats
Events: 7
Rounds: 19
Average: 71.26
Low 54: 206
Low 18: 64

2. Ainhoa Olarra
2016-17 Stats
Events: 8
Rounds: 22
Average: 72.45
Low 54: 213
Low 18: 69

3. Ana Pelaez
2016-17 Stats
Events: 6
Rounds: 16
Average: 72.50
Low 54: 208
Low 18: 67

4. Marion Veysseyre
2016-17 Stats
Events: 8
Rounds: 22
Average: 73.82
Low 54: 215
Low 18: 69

5. Jia Xin Yang
2016-17 Stats
Events: 7
Rounds: 19
Average: 75.11
Low 54: 220
Low 18: 70

Team (Rank*)

1. Alabama (1)

2. Arkansas (13)

3. Auburn

4. Florida (8)

5. Georgia (6)

6. Kentucky

7. LSU

8. Ole Miss

9. Mississippi State

10. Missouri

11. South Carolina (11)

12. Tennessee

13. Texas A&M (20)

14. Vanderbilt

* Golfstat ranking as of April 18

Dates: April 21-23

Location: Hover, Ala.

Course: Greystone Golf & Country Club

Par: 72

Yards: 6,202

Dates	Event	Finish
Sept. 25-27	ANNIKA Intercollegiate Reunion, Fla.	6th of 12
Oct. 2-4	Cougar Classic Charleston, S.C.	T-7th of 21
Oct. 14-16	Tar Heel Invitational Chapel Hill, N.C.	T-5th of 18
Oct. 28-30	The Landfall Tradition Wilmington, N.C.	1st of 18
Feb. 10-12	FSU Match-Up Tallahassee, Fla.	2nd of 12
March 3-5	Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Hilton Head Island, S.C.	4th of 17
March 31 — Apr. 2	Bryan National Collegiate Browns Summit, N.C.	6th of 18
Apr. 7-9	Liz Murphy Collegiate Classic Athens, Ga.	10th of 12
Apr. 21-23	SEC Championship Hoover, Ala.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 11 South Carolina women’s golf opens postseason play this week at the 2017 SEC Championship in Hoover, Ala. The 54-hole event, which takes place Apr. 21-23, will be contested at the Greystone Golf & Country Club for the fifth-straight season. This year’s 14-team field will compete at the Legacy Course, one of two 18-hole tracks at the venue.

COACH Kalen Anderson ON THE EVENT

“We’re looking forward to getting back to Greystone — it’s a golf course we are very familiar with. The greens can have some complexity, and it’s going to be about eliminating some three-putts. I think it fits our team very well, and I know Katelyn Dambaugh loves the golf course. We’ve had a lot of really good practices this week, and the team is really focused. Our key as a group is to stay positive and not get ahead of ourselves.”

BREAKING DOWN THE FIELD

Six teams currently ranked inside the top-20 by Golfstat will be in action at the SEC Championship. Top-ranked Alabama, No. 6 Georgia and No. 8 Florida mark the three top-10 schools in the field, while the No. 11 Gamecocks, No. 13 Arkansas and No. 20 Texas A&M round out the list of ranked participants. Ten teams enter this week with a victory on their resume this season, and three schools head into the tournament with multiple wins on the year.

HISTORY AT THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

Carolina boasted top-five finishes in each of the last four years at the SEC Championship, including runner-up honors in 2014 and 2015. The Gamecocks notched the program’s lone SEC Title back in 2002, and they have placed in the top-five six times since the arrival of coach Kalen Anderson in 2008. Senior Katelyn Dambaugh, the runner-up at the 2016 SEC Championship, sports top-five showings in her last two appearances at the tournament. Junior Ainhoa Olarra placed eighth at Greystone Golf & Country Club last season, while Jia Xin Yang tied for 21st as a sophomore in 2015.

LAST TIME OUT

Carolina closed out the regular season at the 2017 Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, which featured the combination of stroke and match play. Senior Katelyn Dambaugh paced the Gamecocks with a 14th-place finish in the stroke-play portion, while sophomore Marion Veysseyre posted a perfect 3-0 mark in match play. Dambaugh and junior Ainhoa Olarra both tallied a pair of match-play victories for Carolina, which went 2-1 in head-to-head competition at the three-day event in Athens, Ga.

CHIP SHOTS

South Carolina enters its 10 season under head coach Kalen Anderson, who has guided the program to nine tournament wins and seven NCAA Championship appearances.
Carolina is one of five schools to reach the NCAA Championship in each of the last seven years, and last spring marked its 16th overall appearance.
The Gamecocks have boasted multiple All-Americans in each of the last three years. Senior Katelyn Dambaugh enters the spring as a three-time All-American.
Carolina’s 289.41 stroke average, the lowest single-season mark in school history, ranks third in the SEC.
Eight players listed in Golfstat’s Top-25 individual rankings will compete at the SEC Championship. Dambaugh heads into the tournament ranked No. 18.
Carolina leads Division I with a 3.04 par-3 scoring average. Sophomore Marion Veysseyre ranks second in the statistical category, while Dambaugh is ninth.
Dambaugh, the No. 10 ranked amateur in the world, sports an under-par stroke average (71.67) through her first three appearances at the SEC Championship.
With a top-10 showing this week, Dambaugh would become the fourth golfer in program history to notch 20 top-10 finishes for her career.
Ana Pelaez, the only golfer to earn multiple SEC Freshman of the Week honors this season, sports the eighth-lowest stroke average (72.50) among Division I freshmen.
Ainhoa Olarra has posted top-20 showings in two of her three postseason appearances. The junior shot a career-best 69 (-3) in round one of the 2016 SEC Championship.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

South Carolina resumes postseason play next month at the NCAA Regionals, set for May 8-10. This year’s regional sites are Athens, Ga., Columbus, Ohio, Lubbock, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Gamecocks will learn their regional fate during the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Selection Show, which will air on Golf Channel on Thu. Apr. 27, at 11 a.m. ET.