South Carolina and Clemson women’s golf teams advance to NCAA national championship
Peaking at the opportune time, both South Carolina and Clemson advanced to the NCAA Women’s Golf Championship with strong performances in regional tournaments.
The Gamecocks, ranked fourth nationally, finished second in the Athens, Georgia regional to earn a berth in the nationals, set for May 19-24 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottdale, Arizona.
Clemson, No. 24 in the pre-tournament poll, claimed its spot in Scottsdale with a second-place performance at the regional in Pullman, Washington.
Sophomore All-Americans Louise Rydqvist and Hannah Darling provided a potent one-two punch for the Gamecocks, finishing second and third, respectively, in the individual competition in Athens. Carolina posted an 11-under-par team score for three rounds that wrapped up Wednesday and fell two strokes short of the programs sixth regional title.
Clemson, which has fashioned a strong spring season and won the Atlantic Coast Conference title, received a school-record 9-under-par 63 from Savannah Grewal in Wednesday’s final round en route to its second-place finish in Pullman.
The top five teams in each of six NCAA regionals advanced to the nationals, which begin May 19. There, after 54 holes of stroke play, the top 15 teams and top nine individuals not on the advancing teams play a fourth round of stroke play to determine match-play qualifiers and the individual champion. The top eight teams compete in match play for the national championship.
“We finished really strong,” Carolina coach Kalen Anderson said. “They did a great job. We were 10-under on the finishing holes (the final six), which was awesome. It was a really good effort and I’m very proud of the way they played.”
The Gamecocks move on to the nationals for the 11th time in 13 seasons. Overall, USC has played in the nationals 12 times in Anderson’s 16 seasons.
Rydqvist fired a 2-under 70 in the final round to take second individually, and Darling posted a 5-under 67 Wednesday. Senior Mathilde Claisse tied for 11th to claim her fifth top-20 of the season. Freshman Mia Sandtorv Lussand was the final counting score with a 1-over 73. She finished with three straight birdies, and tied for 16th individually.
Clemson, which first fielded a women’s golf program in 2013, moved to the nationals for the second time and saved its best in the regionals for the final round. Powered by Grewal’s 63, the team score of 18-under-par 270 set program records for the best total score and the best score vs. par.
The Tigers placed seventh after the first round, then moved to third and then second.
“We’ve been tracking in the right direction,” coach Kelley Hester said. “We just kept getting better and better each day this week.”
Grewal’s 63 included two eagles, six birdies and one bogey, breaking the school record of 64 set by teammate Chloe Holder in September. After an opening 73, Grewal came back with rounds of 68 and 63 and placed sixth individually.
Melena Barrientos, Annabelle Pancake and Isabella Rawl all posted final-round 69s, giving the Tigers four player with scores in the 60s for the first time.
2023 NCAA Athens Regional top scores
1. No. 30 Georgia – 851 (-13)
2. No. 4 South Carolina – 853 (-11)
3. No. 9 San Jose State – 878 (+14)
4. No. 16 Ole Miss – 881 (+17)
5. Augusta – 885 (+21)
2023 NCAA Pullman Regional top scores
1. Stanford 814 (-50)
2. Clemson 831 (-33)
3. Southern California 838 (-26)
4. Baylor 841 (-23)
5. Texas Tech 845 (-19)
This story was originally published May 10, 2023 at 10:58 PM.