No. 24 South Carolina's Season Ends in Norman

NORMAN, Okla. — No. 24 South Carolina saw its season come to a close on Wednesday at the NCAA Norman Regional. The Gamecocks shot 293 (+5) and finished sixth, six shots back of the top-five cutline for the NCAA Championship.
 
Redshirt senior Evans Lewis shot 69 (-3) and punched his ticket as an individual as the highest finishing golfer on a non-advancing team. The Sumter, S.C., native shot 210 (-6) over 54-holes to finish T-5^th with three other players. Lewis had four birdies on the back nine of the course today and made the turn at 3-under. The transfer from North Greenville closed with an even par 36 coming into the clubhouse.
 
Senior All-American Ryan Hall shot 72 (E) after battling back from a tough 3-over start on the backside of the course today. He made eagle at the par-5 18^th and back-to-back birdies at holes four and five to get back to even on the day. Hall had four birdie opportunities down the stretch on holes six through nine but couldn’t get any putts to drop. The Knoxville, Tenn., native finished T-28^th at 3-over for the tournament in his final appearance in Garnet and Black.
 
“It was a tough way to finish our season and we’re all pretty disappointed right now,” said head coach Bill McDonald. “I’m really happy for Evans and his showing. Making NCAAs as an individual is quite an accomplishment, and I look forward to being in Scottsdale with him. The team had a solid year overall. Winning three times is not easy to do in our business and we also
managed to develop some of our younger guys as well.  It’s hard saying goodbye to Ryan, but he’s had an incredible career as a Gamecock. I am excited about his opportunities professionally coming up, and I will be his biggest fan.”
 
Hall, who became just the second PING First Team All-American in program history alongside Matt NeSmith after one of the finest season’s in school history last year, will leave Carolina the all-time leader in career scoring average at 70.66 – the only Gamecock ever with a sub-71 stroke average. His 10 career top-fives are sixth all-time and his four victories are T-2^nd most at South Carolina with NeSmith, Keenan Huskey and Carl Paulson.
 
Sophomore Rafe Reynolds shot 75 (+3) and freshman Nathan Franks shot 77 (+5) to round out the counting scores for the Gamecocks. Freshman Gene Zeigler shot 80 (+8).
 
2022 NCAA Norman Regional R3 Leaderboard
1. No. 1 Oklahoma – 838 (-26)
2. No. 18 Auburn – 848 (-16)
3. No. 25 Ole Miss – 849 (-15)
4. No. 7 Texas – 852 (-12)
5. No. 50 Utah – 860 (-4)
— top-five advance to NCAA Championship at Grayhawk —
6. No. 24 South Carolina – 866 (+2)
7. No. 36 Louisville – 871 (+7)
8. No. 48 San Diego State – 873 (+9)
9. Kansas State – 882 (+18)
10. No. 37 Missouri – 885 (+21)
11. Kent State – 888 (+24) 
12. UT-Martin – 910 (+46)
13. Rider – 916 (+52)
 
2022 NCAA Norman Regional R3 Gamecock Leaderboard
T5. Evans Lewis – 210 (-6)
T28. Ryan Hall – 219 (+3)
T34. Nathan Franks – 221 (+5)
T47. Rafe Reynolds – 223 (+7)
T56. Gene Zeigler – 226 (+10)
 
###