Trio of Gamecocks Place Top-10; South Carolina Advances to Championship Match of Stephens Cup
DALLAS, Texas (Sept. 15, 2026) – For the second time in three seasons, South Carolina women’s golf will square off against Wake Forest in match play at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup. This time, it will be for all the marbles when the two squads tee off at Fields Ranch East at PGA Frisco in Dallas, Texas.
Only the top four teams on the men’s and women’s side advance to match play. It’ll be the Gamecocks’ fifth match play appearance at the Stephens Cup and the first title appearance since the inauguration of the event in 2021 at The Alotian Club.
South Carolina finished stroke play in solo second with an overall team score of 860 (-4), setting up the showdown against the Demon Deacons who fired an 858 (-6). The Gamecocks opened the tournament with a scorching round of 9-under-par (279) before capping off a 36-hole day with a second-round score of even-par (288) to take a one stroke lead with 18 holes to play. The Garnet & Black finished stroke play with a final-round mark of 293 (+5), finishing just two shots shy of Wake Forest and 12 strokes clear of third-place Oregon (872).
For the second consecutive tournament, Eila Galitsky walked away as one of the low scorers for South Carolina with another 1-under-par (215) finish, tied with freshman Amelia Harris as the duo placed T-6th. The Thailand native posted rounds of 70-73-72 and was second in the field in birdies with 13, just one shy of teammate Molly McLean (14). Harris carded similar rounds, turning in scores of 73-70-72 and did the bulk of her damage on the par 5s, averaging 4.83 strokes. She also led the Gamecocks in pars with 39 on her way to her first top-10 finish in her collegiate career.
McLean secured her first top-10 placement of the season, turning in a tournament score of 217 (+1) to finish T-8th. The Australia native opened the tournament with consecutive 3-under-par (69) rounds and led the field in birdies (14). McLean paced the Gamecocks in both par 3 scoring (2.75) and par 5 scoring (4.75). She was followed by Vairana Heck who finished just outside the top 10, placing T-11th after a 54-hole score of 4-over-par (220). Heck’s best round was the opening session where she carded a 3-under-par (69). Alicia Olsson registered a top-20 finish after placing T-19th with a tournament mark of 224 (+8). Similar to Heck, Olsson’s 18-hole opening round proved to be her best score following a 1-under-par (71). Olsson was one of just two players in the field with an eagle this week.
Golf Channel will provide live coverage of match play tomorrow beginning at 4 p.m. (ET). Live scoring will be provided by CLIPPD and can be accessed here.
Amelia Harris will be the first Gamecock to tee off at 1:20 p.m. (ET) on hole No. 1 against Macy Pate.
2026 Stephens Cup Final Stroke Play Gamecock Leaderboard
T6. Eila Galitsky – 215 (-1)
T6. Amelia Harris – 215 (-1)
T8. Molly McLean – 217 (+1)
T11. Vairana Heck – 220 (+4)
T19. Alicia Olsson – 224 (+8)
2026 Stephens Cup Final Stroke Play Team Leaderboard (Golfweek/GolfChannel Top 30)
1. No. 6/7 Wake Forest – 858 (-6)
2. No. 15/10 South Carolina – 860 (-4)
3. No. 12/11 Oregon – 872 (+8)
4. No. 3/3 Texas – 883 (+19)
5. No. 21/8 Florida State – 885 (+21)
6. No. 1/1 Stanford – 891 (+27)
2026 Stephens Cup Championship Matches (all times Eastern)
1:20 pm – Amelia Harris (SC) vs. Macy Pate (WF)
1:42 pm – Molly McLean (SC) vs. Benedicte Brent-Petersen (WF)
2:00 pm – Vairana Heck (SC) vs. Havanna Torstensson (WF)
2:26 pm – Alicia Olsson (SC) vs. Vidhi Lakhawala (WF)
2:48 pm – Eila Galitsky (SC) vs. Chloe Kovelesky (WF)
