April 20, 2018

No. 9 Women’s Golf at SEC Championship

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – South Carolina senior women’s golfer Ainhoa Olarra captured the individual title at the 2018 SEC Championship in dramatic fashion, taking down Arkansas’ Maria Fassi in a playoff Friday at Greystone Country Club.

The No. 9 Gamecocks carded a 285 (-3) in the final round of stroke play to secure the No. 1 seed in this weekend’s match-play bracket.

Carolina, which totaled an 867 (+3) during stroke play, will face eighth-seeded Missouri in the match play quarterfinals Saturday morning.

Olarra’s victory marked her second of the spring. Her win came one year after former Gamecock Katelyn Dambaugh earned the individual title at the 2017 SEC Championship.

Olarra made her up-and-down from the bunker on No. 18 to match Fassi’s birdie and force a playoff. Both golfers recorded a par on No. 1, the first playoff hole, before Olarra secured the win with a birdie on No. 9. The San Sebastian, Spain, native stuck her approach shot to three feet before converting the ensuing birdie putt to top Fassi, who made par on the hole.

Olarra, who posted a 2-under 70 Friday, totaled a 7-under 209 in the stroke-play portion of the SEC Championship.

Carolina sophomore Lois Kaye Go also earned a top-10 showing, finishing at 2-over 218 to tie for ninth. The Cebu City, Philippines, native was flawless in round three, racking up 17 pars and a birdie on No. 17 en route to a 1-under 71.

Marion Veysseyre and Ana Pelaez marked the final two Gamecocks to shoot par or better Friday, as they both carded a 72 (E). Veysseyre, who tied for 13th at 4-over 220, notched birdies on Nos. 3 and 13 in her third round. Pelaez (T21, +6) kept the scorecard clean following the turn with seven pars and birdies on Nos. 11 and 18 over her final nine holes.

Carolina’s Anita Uwadia finished in 18th place with a 54-hole mark of 222 (+6). The sophomore made the turn at 1-over 37 and played her final nine holes at even to turn in a 1-over 73. Uwadia collected three birdies on her day, the last of which came on the par-3 17th.

No. 2 Alabama (872, +8) finished second in stroke play, while No. 3 Arkansas (875, +11) rounded out the top three.

Saturday’s match play quarterfinal contests are below.

• #1 South Carolina vs. #8 Missouri

• #2 Alabama vs. #7 Vanderbilt

• #3 Arkansas vs. #6 Florida

• #4 Georgia vs. #5 Auburn

QUOTING Ainhoa Olarra

ROUND CHANGER Ainhoa Olarra

NOTABLE

• South Carolina is the third school in league history to boast the individual champion in back-to-back years at the SEC Championship. Former Gamecock Katelyn Dambaugh won medalist honors at the conference tournament last year.
• Friday marked the first time the SEC Individual Champion was determined by a playoff since 2005 when Arkansas’ Stacey Lewis came away with the title.
• Ainhoa Olarra‘s performance marked her second career victory at Carolina. The senior is one of five Gamecocks to notch multiple wins during her collegiate career, and she is the third player in school history to win a title at the SEC Championship.
• Carolina was one of three schools to shoot under par Friday. All five Gamecocks earned top-25 finishes during the stroke-play portion of the SEC Championship.

UP NEXT

Top-seeded South Carolina faces eighth-seeded Missouri in the SEC Match Play Quarterfinals Saturday morning at Greystone Country Club. The action gets underway at 7:50 a.m. CT, and the winner between the Gamecocks and Tigers will face either fourth-seeded Georgia or fifth-seeded Auburn in the semifinal round Saturday afternoon.