Olarra Set For 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup

July 5, 2018

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Recent South Carolina alumna Ainhoa Olarra will play in the 2018 Arnold Palmer Cup this weekend at the Evian Resort Golf Club in southeastern France.

Olarra will compete for the 12-player women’s international team at the Ryder Cup-style collegiate event, which takes place July 6-8.

This year marks the first time there will be a women’s competition between the United States and international side at the Arnold Palmer Cup.

The three-day event gets underway Friday with 12 fourball matches – six on the women’s side and six on the men’s side. Saturday features mixed foursome matches in the morning before 12 more fourball matches are contested in the afternoon. The tournament concludes with singles matches Sunday, and the closing ceremony will take place shortly after the final match.

Teams will be awarded one point for every match won, and matches that end in a tie will result in a half point for each squad. There will be a winner on both the men’s and women’s sides.

Olarra, a native of San Sebastian, Spain, earned a place on the international squad based on her spot in Golfstat’s player rankings this past season. She was listed as the No. 5 ranked international women’s player in the final Arnold Palmer Cup Rankings, which also take into account individual wins and high finishes, poor finishes and a strength of schedule component.

The top-six American and international golfers from both the men’s and women’s sides were given a spot in the Arnold Palmer Cup. The remaining six men’s and women’s spots for the United States consisted of five committee selections, including at least one non-Division I golfer and a coaches pick. The finals spots on the two international squads were filled by the men’s and women’s winners of the R&A Scholars Tournament, four committee selections and a coaches pick.

Olarra boasted a historic senior campaign for Carolina after posting the lowest single-season stroke average (71.00) in program history. She captured individual titles at the 2018 Florida State Match-Up and 2018 SEC Championship and closed the season with a team-high five top-five showings. Olarra ranks second all-time among Gamecocks in career scoring average (73.44) and career wins (2), and her 12 top-10 finishes stand as the eighth-best total in school history.

Fans can follow South Carolina women’s golf on Twitter (@GamecockWGolf) for updates throughout the Arnold Palmer Cup, and live scoring of the event is also available.