Gamecocks Open Play at Palmetto Intercollegiate Monday

AIKEN, S.C. – South Carolina makes its return to the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate on Monday after a one-year hiatus from the event. The Gamecocks will play 36 holes tomorrow, with the final round taking place on Tuesday at historic Palmetto Golf Club.
 
“We always love playing at Palmetto Golf Club,” said head coach Bill McDonald. “The golf course combined with a great field should make for a fun and exciting couple of days. The forecast is nice too and having a break from the rain will be a pleasant change. Our guys have worked hard on their short games since Houston and they look as polished as I’ve seen a team in some time.”
 
Carolina’s three seniors, Will Miles, Ryan Stachler and Scott Stevens, remain in the lineup. Juniors Jamie Wilson and Caleb Proveaux will be slotted in the four and five-man positions. It’s an experienced group for the Gamecocks this week, with 120 career events played combined across the five players teeing it up.
 
Miles (T-7^th), Wilson (T-9^th), Stachler (T-12^th) and Stevens (T-22^nd) are all fresh off top-25 finishes at the 2019 All-American Intercollegiate three weeks ago in the team’s last outing and first tournament of the spring.
 
South Carolina will be paired with No. 13 Clemson and Virginia for the first two rounds tomorrow with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. ET. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.  

ABOUT THE COURSE
Palmetto Golf Club was founded in 1892 by Thomas Hitchcock, a prominent sportsman from Long Island, New York. He and his wife attracted many wealthy families from the Northeast who established a Winter Colony in Aiken. These winter residents created a number of recreational facilities for polo, fox hunting, horseback riding, and tennis. Several large estates were constructed in the heart of Aiken in the vicinity of the Palmetto Golf Club, many of which continue to exist. While not one of the five original founding members of the USGA, Palmetto Golf Club joined on January 22, 1896, some fourteen months after the USGA was founded. The Palmetto Golf Club’s USGA certificate is believed to be the oldest still in existence and is on display at the club. Currently Palmetto Golf Club’s USGA certificate ranks 19th in seniority among active USGA certificates. The current clubhouse, completed in 1902, was designed by noted New York architect Stanford White, who also designed the Shinnecock Hills clubhouse. The Historic Aiken Foundation has designated the Palmetto Golf Club as a place of historic significance.
 
The golf course is a par 71 layout and plays at 6,713 yards from the championship tees. What the course may lack in length it more than makes up for with its small elevated and undulating greens, and clever (some say diabolical) bunkers. The competitive course record of 59 was established by USC-Aiken All-American golfer Dane Burkhart on Sunday, August 14, 2005 in the final round of the Palmetto Amateur.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
With the exception of last year, Carolina has played in the Palmetto Intercollegiate every season since 2012, winning back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016. The team shot 825 (-15) and All-American Will Starke was the individual medalist with a score of 201 (-9) en route to the title in 2015. In 2016, the Gamecocks shot 821 (-19) on their way to victory, the third lowest 54-hole score in program history. The team shot 266 (-14) in the second round that year, which is tied for the second lowest round all-time. All-American Matt NeSmith was the individual medalist with a final score of 203 (-7). All five players in the lineup finished in the top-10 in 2016, as Carolina finished 18-strokes in front of runner-up Virginia.
 
In the team’s last trip to Aiken, the Gamecocks placed third in 2017 with top-10 finishes from All-American Keenan Huskey (T-4^th) and Stachler (T-9^th).

TOURNAMENT FIELD
South Carolina, Clemson and Virginia are the only Power Five schools in the 18-team field. The Gamecocks are ranked 37^th in the latest Golfstat Team Rankings, while the Tigers (highest rated team in the field) are 13^th and Cavailiers 69^th. UVA returns as the defending champion. UAB (72^nd) and Memphis (88^th) are the other top-100 teams competing at Palmetto Golf Club this week.
 
USC-Aiken, the host school, is ranked 31^st in the Golfstat Team Rankings for NCAA Division II.

MCDONALD’S 21
Gamecock head coach Bill McDonald is the winningest coach by tournament victories in school history with 21. McDonald broke the previous record of nine held by Puggy Blackmon (1995-2007) with Carolina’s win at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in September 2014. McDonald captured a school-record five wins in 2014-15 and the team’s third-straight title at the 2017 Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate last spring. His latest win came last fall at the 2017 Camden Collegiate Invitational as Carolina won the event for the third time in four seasons thanks to three individual top-10 finishes.
 
UP NEXT
The Gamecocks have a quick turnaround, heading to the Valspar Collegiate Invitational on March 17-19 at Floridan Golf Club. Carolina will be back in action again shortly after at the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate on March 24-26, where its looking to win its third team title in the last four seasons.

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