Gamecocks Head West For Maui Jim Intercollegiate

Sept. 22, 2016

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina men’s golf team, ranked No. 11 in Golfweek’s latest poll released Sept. 9, travels west this weekend to the Maui Jim Intercollegiate in Scottsdale, Ariz. The three-day stroke play event begins Friday morning and runs through Sunday.

The Gamecocks tee off at 2:10 ET Friday afternoon and are paired with Augusta and No. 16 USF in the first round.

HISTORY AT THE MAUI JIM INTERCOLLEGIATE

The Gamecocks are making their first appearance at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate. It will also be the team’s first-ever round at the Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The last time South Carolina played in the state of Arizona was 2007 when the team captured the school’s first ever NCAA regional title at Karsten Golf Course in Tempe. The Gamecocks shot a course record 44-under-par en route to their NCAA West Regional title.

Freshman George Bryan IV led Carolina finishing tied for 10th after shooting 12-under-par at the tournament in 2007. Bryan eagled No. 17 and sank a 40-foot putt for birdie on No. 18 on the final day to help Carolina edge UCLA by two strokes for the championship.

TOURNAMENT FIELD

A very talented field awaits South Carolina at this year’s Maui Jim Intercollegiate. The 16-team field features 10 teams ranked in the top-50 of Golfweek’s latest rankings that came out on Sept. 9. The team’s include No. 7 LSU, No. 11 South Carolina, No. 15 California, No. 16 South Florida, No. 28 Baylor, No. 34 Houston, No. 37 Augusta, No. 38 Georgia Tech, No. 39 UAB and No. 50 Kansas.

LSU is the only fellow SEC member in the field with Carolina. The Tigers were also at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Sept. 9-11, which was played at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga.

RECAPPING THE 2015-16 SEASON

South Carolina advanced to its fourth straight NCAA Championship after a second place finish at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional behind SEC foe Georgia. At the NCAA Championship, the Gamecocks sat in 14th place heading into the final round of stroke play.

The team finished seventh after shooting a final round 277 (-3) to advance to the match play portion of the event for the first time in school history. The seventh-place finish was the team’s highest ever in stroke play at the NCAA Championship. In match play, the Gamecocks fell to eventual national runner-up Illinois, 4-1. Then-freshman Scott Stevens earned the lone point for the Gamecocks.

Three of the five players from Carolina’s NCAA Championship squad, Sean Kelly, Matt NeSmith and Will Starke, have graduated and moved on to the Canadian PGA Tour. Keenan Huskey and Scott Stevens return for the Gamecocks this season. The team’s final Golfstat ranking was 10th, marking the second-straight top-10 finish for the program.

MCDONALD’S 18

Gamecock head coach Bill McDonald is the winningest coach by tournament victories in school history with 18. McDonald broke the previous record of nine held by Puggy Blackmon (1995-2007) with Carolina’s win at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in September 2014. McDonald captured a school-record five wins in 2014-15 and snagged his latest victory at the 2016 Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate.

UP NEXT FOR THE GAMECOCKS

The Gamecocks have a break in their fall schedule before returning to action at the Camden Collegiate Classic. The two-day tournament, which is hosted by South Carolina, will be played at the Camden Country Club in Camden, S.C. on Oct. 22-23.