No. 2 Gamecocks Remain in Lead at SEC Championship
Robert Davis Photo
All-Americans Hannah Darling and Louise Rydqvist pace Carolina again as team seeks top seed in match play on Monday
BELLEAIR, Fla. – No. 2 South Carolina remains atop the leaderboard at the 2024 SEC Women’s Golf Championship at 3-under as a team thru 36 holes. The Gamecocks shot 282 (+2) in round two led by even par rounds from junior All-Americans Hannah Darling and Louise Rydqvist.
No. 16 Texas A&M is second at even par as a team and No. 10 Auburn is third at 2-over thru two rounds of play.
Darling made four birdies on the day to lead the team. She had a great bogey save at the par-4 16th hole after catching an unfortunate break on her approach. The Midlothian, Scotland, native then almost had a birdie-birdie finish. She remains one off the pace heading into the final round Sunday.
Four different Gamecocks have claimed medalist honors at the SEC Championship: Kristy McPherson (2001, 2002), Katelyn Dambaugh (2017), Ainhoa Olarra (2018) and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (2021), who broke the 54-hole SEC Championship record with a 17-under 199 at Greystone three years ago.
Rydqvist made a pair of birdies and had a number of great par saves throughout her round. She was bogey free on the front nine, turning in a 1-under 34. Sophomore Mia Sandtorv Lussand shot 71 (+1) with two birdies and an eagle at the par-5 seventh hole.
Darling, Rydqvist and Sandtorv Lussand each remain in the hunt for the individual title still. Mississippi State’s Julia Lopez Ramirez is the 36-hole leader at 5-under. She fired a 2-under 68 today.
Freshman Vairana Heck also played solid today with a 1-over 71 as she was the final counting score. Heck made just one bogey and was 1-under thru 17 holes before a double-bogey at the difficult 18th hole, which has water running the right side of the fairway and green. Freshman Maylis Lamoure shot 74 (+4) and sits just outside the top-30. She played solid but just couldn’t get any putts to drop.
Team wise, South Carolina has put itself in comfortable position heading into the final round of stroke play on Sunday to make the top eight for match play on Monday. The Gamecocks have advanced to match play at the SEC Championship each season since its inception in 2018.
Carolina will be paired again with the Aggies and Tigers for the final round of stroke play on Sunday. Lamoure will be the first player off at 8 a.m. (ET) from hole one. Live scoring will be available again via Golfstat.
2024 SEC Women’s Golf Championship Leaderboard
- No. 2 South Carolina – 557 (-3)
- No. 16 Texas A&M – 560 (E)
- No. 10 Auburn – 560 (E)
- Mississippi State – 568 (+8)
- No. 23 Georgia – 572 (+12)
- No. 9 Arkansas – 574 (+14)
- No. 20 Vanderbilt – 576 (+16)
- Kentucky – 578 (+18)
- No. 4 LSU – 579 (+19)
- Tennessee – 582 (+22)
- Alabama – 583 (+23)
- No. 15 Florida – 584 (+24)
- No. 14 Ole Miss – 589 (+29)
- Missouri – 603 (+43)
2024 SEC Women’s Golf Championship Gamecock Lineup
T2. Hannah Darling – 137 (-3)
T5. Louise Rydqvist – 138 (-2)
T13. Mia Sandtorv Lussand – 140 (E)
T19. Vairana Heck – 142 (+2)
T32. Maylis Lamoure – 146 (+6)
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