April 14, 2011

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SEC Championship Notes | Live Scoring

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina begins the championship portion of its season this weekend as the Gamecocks compete in the 2011 SEC Women’s Golf Championship. The tournament runs Friday-Sunday at the par 72, 6,364-yard Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala.

South Carolina will send out a lineup consisting of one junior, one sophomore and three true freshmen, comprising one of the youngest teams in the Southeastern Conference. Leading the way is junior Katie Burnett (Brunswick, Ga.), who will be competing in her third SEC Championship. She has never missed a tournament in her three seasons as a Gamecock, and currently ranks second on the all-time career scoring charts behind current LPGA star Kristy McPherson. Joining Burnett is sophomore Amanda Strang (Jonstorp, Sweden), who makes her second trip to the conference tournament and appears in her 21st consecutive event.

Three true freshmen will experience their first taste of postseason competition as Samantha Swinehart (Lancaster, Ohio), Suzie Lee (East Northport, N.Y.) and Katie Rose Higgins (Charleston, S.C.) round out the lineup. Swinehart leads the team with three top-20 finishes this year, and Higgins has played in every event this season as well. Lee missed two tournaments in the early spring with a wrist injury, but is back to full strength as she carries the team’s second-best scoring average (75.67).

With three seniors playing in most every event last year, the Gamecocks will be breaking in three fresh faces to the SEC Championship. But Katie Burnett and Amanda Strang have combined for three prior appearances in the conference tournament. Burnett finished 15th last season at Alabama’s NorthRiver Yacht Club with Strang in a tie for 28th. Burnett tied for 32nd place as a freshman at the 2009 championship held at the Gamecocks’ home course of Cobblestone Park. Burnett has also played the Auburn University Club once before, tying for 40th place at the 2008 playing of the Auburn Derby Invitational.

The Southeastern Conference continues to be a power in women’s golf as eight of the league’s 12 teams enter the championship season ranked in the nation’s top 25. Alabama leads the way at No. 3, followed by No. 6 LSU – both of whom have ascended to the top spot at various points throughout the year. Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are also ranked in the top 25, with the Gamecocks and Ole Miss inside the nation’s top 50.

South Carolina has faced all 11 league opponents this year, compiling a 13-25-1 record againt the SEC. The Gamecocks have a winning record against Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Mississippi State.

In last year’s SEC Championship, Corrine Carr shot the best round of her collegiate career with a bogey-free 67 (-4) on Sunday to lead South Carolina in the final round at NorthRiver Yacht Club in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The Gamecocks shot 288 (+4) on the day to finish in seventh place at 867 (+15) overall, one shot back of LSU. Katie Burnett was the high finisher for South Carolina, turning in rounds of 72-70-72=214 (+1) to finish alone in 15th place. It was Burnett’s seventh top-20 finish in nine events this season and her score of 214 was her season-best by eight shots. Amanda Strang completed a successful first SEC Championship with a tie for 28th place after shooting 72 (+1) on Sunday, her best round of the tournament, to finish at 220 (+7) for the week.

The Gamecocks will be paired with Florida and Vanderbilt for Friday’s first round, which gets underway at 9:20 a.m. CDT (10:20 a.m. EDT) on the No. 10 tee. Live scoring will be available via golfstat.com, and fans can receive updates throughout the round by following @GamecockWGolf on Twitter.