No. 11 Gamecocks Ready For Eighth Straight NCAA Championship Appearance

May 18, 2017

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
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TOURNAMENT LINEUP

1. Ana Pelaez
2016-17 Stats
Events: 8
Rounds: 22
Average: 72.55
Low 54: 208
Low 18: 67

2. Katelyn Dambaugh
2016-17 Stats
Events: 9
Rounds: 25
Average: 71.00
Low 54: 204
Low 18: 64

3. Ainhoa Olarra
2016-17 Stats
Events: 10
Rounds: 28
Average: 72.54
Low 54: 213
Low 18: 69

4. Marion Veysseyre
2016-17 Stats
Events: 10
Rounds: 28
Average: 74.36
Low 54: 215
Low 18: 69

5. Anita Uwadia
2016-17 Stats
Events: 5
Rounds: 15
Average: 74.60
Low 54: 210
Low 18: 69

Team (Rank*)

1. Alabama (2)

2. Arizona State (7)

3. Baylor (17)

4. California (21)

5. Clemson

6. Duke (8)

7. Florida (3)

8. Florida State (5)

9. Furman (9)

10. Kent State (14)

11. Miami (13)

12. Michigan

13. Michigan State

14. North Carolina

15. Northwestern (12)

16. Ohio State (25)

17. Oregon

18. Pepperdine

19. Purdue (24)

20. Southern Cal (6)

21. South Carolina (11)

22. Stanford (1)

23. Texas (16)

24. Texas Tech

* Golfstat ranking as of May 11

Dates: May 19-24

Location: Sugar Grove, Ill.

Course: Rich Harvest Farms

Par: 72

Yards: 6,343

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.	T-5th of 14
May 8-10	NCAA Columbus Regional Columbus, Ohio	T-1st of 18
May 19-24	NCAA Championship Sugar Grove, Ill.

COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 11 South Carolina opens play at the 2017 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship this Friday in Sugar Grove, Ill. The six-day event, which takes place May 19-24, features a combination of stroke and match play at Rich Harvest Farms. Each school will play 54 holes of stroke play before the 24-team field is cut to 15 after Sunday’s third round.

A fourth round of stroke play will narrow the field to eight teams, who will advance to the match play portion of the tournament. The match play quarterfinals and semifinals will take place on Tues., May 23, before the NCAA Champion is determined following Wednesday’s title match. Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the final day of stroke play and each of the three match play rounds.

COACH Kalen Anderson ON THE EVENT

“We’ve had a great week of focused preparation. I believe that our regional site in Ohio was a good preparation for this week’s venue at Rich Harvest Farms, and the team has gained confidence from it. We will have another marathon week where patience and mental toughness prevails.”

BREAKING DOWN THE FIELD

Seventeen teams competing at the 2017 NCAA Championship head into the event listed in Golfstat’s Top-25 Poll. Second-ranked Florida and No. 3 Alabama, two of eight top-10 schools in action this week, join the No. 11 Gamecocks as the three SEC participants at the tournament. Carolina is one of 15 schools in the field who played at the 2016 NCAA Championship.

HISTORY AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

This year marks the Gamecocks’ 17th NCAA Championship appearance. Carolina, one of four schools to advance to the NCAA Championship in each of the last eight years, equaled its highest finish ever at the event with a fifth-place showing in 2016. The Gamecocks reached the match-play portion of the tournament for the first time in program history last season before falling to Stanford in the quarterfinals. Each of Carolina’s top-two finishes at the NCAA Championship have come under coach Kalen Anderson, and senior Katelyn Dambaugh and junior Ainhoa Olarra both notched top-20 finishes at the event a year ago.

LAST TIME OUT

South Carolina rallied from eight shots back and carded a final-round 288 (E) to claim its third-straight NCAA Regional title last week at OSU Golf Club. The Gamecocks, who boast five regional championships since 2010, totaled a three-round mark of 886 (+22) to finish tied with Florida atop the Columbus Regional. Carolina’s Ana Pelaez shared medalist honors after posting a 70 (-2) in the second and third rounds en route to a 54-hole mark of 216 (E). The win marked the first career victory for the freshman standout, who sports four top-15 finishes this spring. Gamecock senior Katelyn Dambaugh (T3) and junior Ainhoa Olarra (T5) also placed inside the top five at the three-day event. Olarra’s showing in Columbus marked the best finish of her collegiate career.

CHIP SHOTS

South Carolina enters its 10th season under head coach Kalen Anderson, who has led the program to 10 tournament wins and nine NCAA Championship appearances.
Carolina is one of four schools to reach the NCAA Championship in each of the last eight years.
The Gamecocks have boasted multiple All-Americans in each of the last three years. Senior Katelyn Dambaugh entered the spring as a three-time All-American.
Carolina leads Division I with a 3.06 par-3 scoring average. Gamecocks Marion Veysseyre, Dambaugh and Ana Pelaez are ranked in the top-15 in the statistical category.
The Gamecocks head into the NCAA Championship with the lowest single-season scoring average (289.75) in school history
Dambaugh, the No. 4 ranked amateur in the world, has posted two wins and four top-three finishes over her last five postseason tournaments dating back to the 2016 SEC Championship.
Dambaugh’s 71.00 stroke average, the lowest single-season mark in program history, ranks sixth in Division I. Her 72.56 career scoring average is also a school record.
Ana Pelaez, an All-SEC Second Team selection and member of the league’s All-Freshman Team, sports the lowest stroke average (72.55) ever by a Carolina freshman.
Pelaez’s win last week gave Carolina back-to-back individual medalists for the second time in program history. Dambaugh won the 2017 SEC Championship in April.
Ainhoa Olarra has posted top-25 showings in four of her five postseason appearances. She broke par twice during the stroke-play portion of the 2016 NCAA Championship.