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Sarah Schmelzel

  • class Senior
  • Hometown Phoenix, Ariz.
  • High school Xavier Prep
  • class Senior
  • Hometown Phoenix, Ariz.
  • High school Xavier Prep

Sarah Schmelzel Bio

AWARDS
Senior season (2015-16)
· GolfWeek All-America Honorable Mention
· SEC Academic Honor Roll

Junior season (2014-15)
· SEC Academic Honor Roll

Sophomore season (2013-14)
· SEC Academic Honor Roll

Freshman season (2012-13)
· 2013 SEC All-Freshman Team
· SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll

IN THE RECORD BOOK
Career
· 4th — Career scoring average (74.25)

Season
· 5th — Single-season scoring average (73.21 in 2015-16)

Round
· T-8th — Low 54-hole score (210 at 2015 ANNIKA Intercollegiate)

MEDALIST HONORS
· 2016 Bryan National Collegiate

Schmelzel’s Career Bests
18-hole score 68
54-hole score 210
Tournament finish 1st
Top 10 finishes 8
Top 20 finishes 16

2015-16
Competed in all of South Carolina’s 11 tournaments, finishing with the fifth-lowest single-season stroke average (73.21) in program history…Ranked second on the team in top-five finishes (2) and top-10 showings (3)…Notched seven top-20 finishes and shot par or better 15 times…Earned her first career medalist honors at the 2016 Bryan National Collegiate with a 54-hole total of 219 (+3)…Posted the eighth-best 54-hole score (210, -6) in school history at the 2015 ANNIKA Intercollegiate to finish in a tie for seventh…Tallied her third career top-five finish at the 2016 FSU Match-Up, placing fourth with a 216 (E)…Carded a 3-under 69 three times throughout the season, including in round two of the 2016 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional…Was one of three Gamecocks to earn a top-20 finish at the Baton Rouge Regional…Placed in a tie for 20th at the 2016 NCAA Championship, finishing the stroke play portion with three-straight rounds of par or better…Shot par or better in five of her final six rounds of the season…Ended her collegiate career with the fourth-lowest career scoring average (74.25) in program history.

2014-15
Returned to action at the Florida State Match-Up after missing the fall due to injury and posted her best finish at her first tournament of the year, carding rounds of 73-72-73=218 (+2) to tie for ninth in Tallahassee…Tied for 30th, improving each round at the home Darius Rucker Intercollegiate (77-75-73=225, +12)…Helped the Gamecocks capture the No. 2 seed for match play at the Liz Murphey Intercollegiate with a 6-over 78 (T21) in the qualifying round of stroke play before going 1-2 in the following rounds of match play in Athens…Shot rounds of 72-74-74=220 (+4) to tie for 27th at the PING ASU Invitational to wrap up the regular season…Had a solid week at SEC Championships, shooting a pair of 72s in the final two rounds after an opening round 77 to finish T21 (221, +5) and help the Gamecocks to a runner-up result…Was one of four Gamecocks in the top 25 as the team captured the NCAA East Regional title, firing a 74 to open the tournament before going for a 69 in the second round and finishing the weekend with a 77 (220, +4) to take 11th…Struggled at The Concession Golf Club finishing 128th at the NCAA Championships (85-90-80=255, +39).

2013-14
Steadying force in the lineup…. Played in all 11 tournaments, including one as an individual… Recorded two top-10 and four top-20 finishes… Finished the season with a scoring average of 74.00, which ranks third among sophomores in program history… Career scoring average of 74.38 ranks third all-time for a single season in program history… Recorded a new career-best 54-hole score of 212 (-4) and her best finish of the season with a second-place showing at the Florida State Match-Up with rounds of 70-72-70=212 (-4)… Her 54-hole score of 212 ties for 10th lowest in program history… Finished tied for 20th at the PING ASU Invitational with rounds of 73-68-77=218 (+2), her round of 68 marked a new career low 18-hole score… Recorded her second top-10 finish of the season with a tie for 10th place showing at the SEC Championship with rounds of 74-75-73=222 (+6)… Finished tied for 29th at the NCAA East Regional with rounds of 71-73-74=218 (+2)… Made her second consecutive appearance and finished tied for 80th at the NCAA Championship with rounds of 78-73-71-76=298 (+18).

2012-13

SEC All-Freshman Team selection…Proved to be one of the Gamecocks’ top golfers…Led the team and ranked 22nd in the SEC with a scoring average of 74.78, which is the lowest average by a freshman in school history and is the 10th-best single-season average in program history…Tied for the team lead with three top-20 finishes…Recorded first career top-20 finish with a tie for 20th showing at the NCAA Fall Preview with rounds of 75-71-74=220 (+4)…Best finish of the season was a third-place finish at the Bryan National Collegiate with rounds of 71-73-71=215 (-1) that earned her SEC Freshman of the Week honors…Helped lead the Gamecocks to a third-place finish at the SEC Championship by finishing in a tie for eighth with rounds of 76-76-76=228 (+12)…Finished in a tie for 33rd at the NCAA West Regional with a total of 222 (+9) to help South Carolina finish fourth and secure the program’s fourth-straight NCAA Championship berth…Tied for 73rd at the NCAA Championship with rounds of 76-80-70-79=305 (+17)…Named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.

Prior to South Carolina

Standout at Xavier Prep in Phoenix, Ariz. …Highly ranked in both the National Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings and the Golfweek junior rankings…Won medalist honors at the 2011 Arizona State High School Championship…Led Xavier Prep to its third team state title in four years…Carded rounds of 71-66 at the state championship to tie the Arizona state high school record with Amanda Blumenhurst, who was a three-time national collegiate player of the year at Duke…Won the Junior Golf Association Bass Pro Shops/Payne Stewart Championship by 12 strokes with rounds of 69-71-70.

Personal

Full name is Sarah Hawley Schmelzel…Born May 12, 1994…Parents are Dennis and Amy Schmelzel.

Schmelzel’s Career Stats
Year Tourn. Rds. Strokes Avg. Low 18 Best Finish
2012-13 11 32 2,393 74.78 70 3rd
2013-14 11 33 2,442 74.00 68 2nd
2014-15 7 19 1,437 75.63 69 T-9
2015-16 11 34 2,489 73.21 69 1st
Career 40 118 8,761 74.24 68 1st