USC Women's Golf 23rd At NCAA Championships

ATHENS, GA (USC SID) -- The South Carolina women's golf team posted a 16-over 304 on Tuesday to open play at the NCAA Championship at the University of Georgia Golf Course.

The Gamecocks finished the day in 23rd place but they are within nine strokes or less of 13 teams ahead of them on the leaderboard. Carolina's start is similar to last year's first round in which it finished the day in a tie for 18th and climbed up the leaderboard over the final three rounds to finish fifth.

"It's obviously not the start we wanted, but we are in there and can come back tomorrow," South Carolina head coach Kalen Harris said. "That's kind of the way we started last year. We got off to a rocky start and then just had to hang in there. The team as a whole really fought hard. I was proud of how they really hung in there. This championship is definitely a marathon with four days. It's not a sprint. We look to recover tomorrow and put up some low numbers."

Junior Suzie Lee carded the low round of the day for the Gamecocks, shooting a 2-over 74 to wrap up the round in a tie for 46th. She recorded two birdies and four bogeys on the afternoon.

Freshman Sarah Schmelzel will head into the second round in a tie for 76th after turning in a 4-over 76. Schmelzel had a solid front nine, shooting 38 (+1), before a double bogey on the first hole of the back side sent her on her way to a 38 (+3) heading into the clubhouse.

Sophomore Justine Dreher and freshman Mary Fran Hillow each shot a 5-over 77 to close out the day in a tie for 89th, while senior Meredith Swanson is in a tie for 108th after carding a 79 (+7).

Top-ranked Southern California and San Jose State are tied atop the team leaderboard after each posting a 4-under 284 on Tuesday. No. 3 Duke (286), No. 2 Alabama (288), No. 8 UCLA (289) and No. 7 Purdue (289) round out the top five.

Individually, San Jose State's Regan De Guzman fired a 5-under 67 to take the early lead.

The Gamecocks will tee off in the second round on Wednesday at 8:28 a.m. and will be paired with Oklahoma State and Florida. Live scoring will be available through Golfstat.

SOUTH CAROLINA RESULTS
T46. Suzie Lee (1) 74 (+2)
T76. Sarah Schmelzel (3) 76 (+4)
T89. Justine Dreher (4) 77 (+5)
T89. Mary Fran Hillow (5) 77 (+5)
T108. Meredith Swanson (2) 79 (+7)

TEAM STANDINGS T1. Southern California 284 (-4) T1. San Jose State 284 (-4) 3. Duke 286 (-2) 4. Alabama 288 (E) T5. UCLA 289 (+1) T5. Purdue 289 (+1) 7. Stanford 290 (+2) 8. Oklahoma 291 (+3) 9. Arizona State 293 (+5) 10. Tulane 295 (+7) 11. Arkansas 296 (+8) T12. Michigan State 298 (+10) T12. Arizona 298 (+10) T12. Northwestern 298 (+10) T15. Texas 299 (+11) T15. UC Davis 299 (+11) T15. Florida 299 (+11) T15. Vanderbilt 299 (+11) 19. Miss. State 300 (+12) T20. Wisconsin 301 (+13) T20. Oregon 301 (+13) 22. Oklahoma State 303 (+15) 23. South Carolina 304 (+16) 24. Auburn 305 (+17)

Source: http://www.abccolumbia.com/sports/USC-Womens-Golf-23rd-At-NCAA-Championships-208427281.html

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