Gamecocks 6 under for 1 Hole in NCAA Regional Playoff; Smith, Nebraska Fail to Advance

May 13, 2021 | 10 min.


There weren't a lot of players with Minnesota connections in the Women's NCAA Division I Regionals this week. Only the University of Nebraska's Kate Smith, a senior from Detroit Lakes who won the individual title at the Big Ten Conference Championships in April.

But the University of South Carolina came into the regionals as the No. 1-ranked team in the country, and the head coach for the Gamecocks is Kalen Anderson, the  former Edina High School star. During the 1990's, the combination of Anderson and Hilary Homeyer (the future U.S. Women's Open champ) made Edina one of the most dominant teams in the history of Minnesota high school golf, and Anderson was on four state championship teams in a span of five years. She went on to play college golf at Duke, where she was an All-American and was on Duke's first national championship team in 1999.

She also served as an assistant for Duke's NCAA championship team in 2007, before becoming the head coach at South Carolina in 2008. 

On Wednesday, the Gamecocks qualified for the NCAA tournament for the ninth time under Anderson. It was a lot harder than they wanted it to be. They had to survive a one-hole playoff to advance -- but the five South Carolina players combined to go 6 under par on that one hole. 

South Carolina was assigned to the Louisville Regional this year. After the first two rounds at the University of Louisville Golf Club (par 72, 6,289 yards) in Simpsonville, Ky., the Gamecocks were tied with Arkansas for second place, with a cumulative 581 (5 over par). Not only were they in a strong postion to qualify for the NCAA Championships (May 21-26 at Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.), but they were only four shots behind first-place Florida State, and in postiion to claim their sixth NCAA regional title in the last 11 years. 

Things didn't go all that well in the final round, however. Mathilde Claisse, a sophomore from Paris who started the day in second place in the individual standings, with a 36-hole aggregate of 139 (71-68), got off to a bad start, and it didn't get any better. She wound up shooting 81 and tying for 24th. Her score didn't count  -- only the top four out of five do count -- but that put pressure on the other four South Carolina players. 

Pauline Roussin Bouchard, another sophomore from France, was No. 1 in the Golfweek Women's NCAA Division I Rankings when the week began. But she had struggled on Monday and posted a first-round 79. She righted the ship on Tuesday, with a 73, and she closed with a 71. That helped, but the only other South Carolina player under par halfway through the final day was Ana Pelaez, a senior from Spain.

After 11 holes, Pelaez (No. 6 in the individual rankings) was 1 under for the round and 3 under for the tournament, tied for second place. At that point, the Gamecocks were still tied for second as a team (at plus 11 for the tournament), but now with Texas and UCLA. They were three shots ahead of the two teams tied for ffifth, Auburn and Big Ten champion Michigan State, and they were four ahead of Arkansas, which had slipped back into seventh place (at plus 15).

Pelaez then proceeded to go 4 over on the last seven holes, finishing with a bogey at the 478-yard, par-5 17th and another bogey at the 387-yard, par-4 18th. Suddenly, South Carolina was tied with Arkansas for sixth place, with a 54-hole total of 15-over 879 -- and headed for a playoff.

Both teams shot 298, which was tied for the 11th-best score of the day, out of 18 teams.

If parts of the final round were a nightmare for the Gamecocks, the playoff was a dream come true. There were two fivesomes -- three players from one team and two from the other in each -- and they played the ninth hole, a 503-yard par 5. Claisse, Go and Kirner were in the first fivesome, and they all made birdies. Both Arkansas players made pars. Brooke Matthews of Arkansas was in the second fivesome, and she made things interesting with an eagle. But Roussin-Bouchard matched her eagle, and Pelaez made a birdie, as South Carolina won -- 6 under to 4 under.

UCLA's Emma Spitz, a sophomore from Austria, earned medalist honors by shooting 68 on Wednesday and finishing 54 holes with a total of 208. Tennessee junior Mikayla Bardwell, a Texan, and another European, Florida State's Amelia Williamson, a sophomore from England, tied for second at 213. Bardwell was one of the players who advanced as individuals. (Three players not with advancing teams made it to the NCAA Championships as individuals from each regional.) Lauren Hartlage of Louisville and Christin Eisenbeiss of North Florida were the other two who made it on their own. They tied with Kaitlyn Papp of Texas for fourth at 214.

Pelaez was the only South Carolina player in the top 20. Her 4-over-for-the-last-seven finish resulted in a 75 on Wednesday and dropped her into a tie for 12th at 217. Roussin-Bouchard tied for 34th at 223. In the new Golfweek post-regional rankings, Roussin-Bouchard is fourth, and Pelaez seventh.

Florida State stayed at the top of the team standings Wednesday, putting together a 295 and ending up at 872 -- only seven ahead of South Carolina and Arkansas.  Texas and UCLA tied for second, three behind at 875. Then came Auburn and Michigan State, tied for fourth at 878. 

As for Kate Smith, she got off to a bad start in the Columbus Regional, with a 6-over 78 at the Ohio State University's Scarlet Course (par 72, 6,358 yards), and so did the Nebraska team, which opened with a 307 and ended up tied for 15th at 916.

Smith came back with a pair of 74's and tied for 36th at 226. 

She was as high as No. 20 in the national rankings this spring, but dropped back to No. 33 this week. 

Georgia won the team title in Columbus by 15 strokes over Duke and Arizona State with an overall 865. Jenny Bae (No. 45) made it a sweep for the Bulldogs. The Georgia junior, who is from Georgia (Suwanee), took the lead with a second-round 68 and her 73 in the final round was good for a 212 and a three-stroke victory. Linn Grant of Arizona State, Caley McGinty of Kent State and Michigan's Monet Chun tied for second at 215.    



WOMEN'S NCAA DI REGIONALS

Louisville Regional

At University of Louisville Golf Club

Par 72, 6,289 yards

Simpsonville, Ky. 

Final results (the top 6 teams qualify for the NCAA Championships, May 21-26 at Greyhawk Golf Club, Scottsdale, Ariz.)


1. Florida State               286-291-295--872

T2. Texas                        297-287-291--875

T2. UCLA                        291-295-289--875

T4. Auburn                      296-296-286--878

T4. Michigan State          292-293-293--878

6. South Carolina            295-286-298--879 (won 1-hole playoff -- No. 9, 503 yards, par 5 -- 5 players 6 under par)

Did not advance

7. Arkansas                     299-282-298--879 (5 players 4 under par)

T8. Texas Tech               301-288-292--881

T8. Central Florida          299-289-293--881

10. Tennessee                299-294-289--882

11. Louisville                   293-289-302--884

12. North Florida             302-287-303--892 

13. Texas-San Antonio    303-298-295--896

14. Mercer                       302-287-308--887

15. College of Charleston  305-301-295--901

16. James Madison          303-291-309--903

17. Xavier                         306-299-302--907

18. Fairleigh Dickinson     314-324-317--955

Individuals (the top 3 individuals not on advancing teams qualify for the NCAA Championships)

(* -- indicates players advancing as individuals) 


1. Emma Spitz, UCLA                                    73-67-68--208

T2. Mikayla Bardwell, Tenn.                           74-75-66--213*

T2. Amelia Williamson, Fla. St.                       68-72-73--213

T4. Kaitlyn Papp, Texas                                  72-69-73--214

T4. Lauren Hartlage, Louisville                       69-72-73--214*

T4. Christin Eisenbeiss, No. Fla                     71-67-76--214*

T12. Ana Pelaez, So. Carolina                      71-71-75--217

T24. Mathilde Claisse, So. Carolina             71-68-81--220

T34. P. Roussin-Bouchard, So. Carolina     79-73-71--223

T51. Lois Kaye Go, South Carolina              76-75-75--226

T63. Paula Kirner, South Carolina                 77-74-77--228


Columbus Regional

At Ohio State University -- Scarlet Course

Par 72, 6,358 yards

Columbus, Ohio

Final results (the top 6 teams qualify for the NCAA Championships) 


1. Georgia                            289-288-288--865

T2. Duke                               287-298-295--880

T2. Arizona State                  291-301-288--880

4. Kentucky                           298-295-290--883

T5. Michigan                          288-296-301--885

T5. Kent State                       291-298-296--885

Did not advance

7. Oklahoma                          286-312-290--888

8. Vanderbilt                          297-300-292--889

9. Virginia                              296-299-299--894

10. Clemson                          299-303-297-899

11. Campbell                         298-306-298--902

12. Washington                      296-316-293--905

13. Illinois                               297-310-299--906

14. Coastal Carolinia             298-313-302--913

T15. Nebraska                       307-313-296--916

T15. New Mexico                   310-310-296--916

17. Youngstown State           322-318-319--959

18. Evansville                        323-335-317--975

Individuals (the top 3 individuals not on advancing teams qualify for the NCAA Championships)

* -- indicates players advancing as individuals


1. Jenny Bae, Georgia                   71-68-73--212   

T2. Linn Grant, Arizona State        71-74-70--215

T2. Caley McGinty, Kent State       70-73-72--215

T2. Monet Chun, Michigan             70-70-75--215

T5. Rikke Svejgaard, Kentucky      75-72-70--217

T5. Louise Yu, Vanderbilt               75-75-70--217*    

T5. Candice Mahe, Georgia           71-75-71--217

T5. Maria Villaneuva, Kentucky      73-71-73--217

T5. Beth Lillie, Virginia                    72-72-73--217*

T5. Isabelle Holpfer, Georgia           72-70-75--217
 
T11. Celina Sattelkau, Vanderbilt     72-72-74--218*

T11. Gina Kim, Duke                         70-74-74--218

T36. Kate Smith, Nebraska            78-74-74--226






          



 

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