Gamecocks fall to Stanford in NCAA match play; Dambaugh honored
South Carolina fell to Stanford 3-2 in the match play quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships on Tuesday at Eugene Country Club.
The Gamecocks’ postseason run concluded in a seventh-place result at the tournament, their second-highest finish at the NCAA Championship.
Tuesday’s match went down to the wire after Gamecock freshman Marion Veysseyre birdied the par-3 16th to move to just 1-down of Stanford’s Mariah Stackhouse. The golfers each earned pars on No. 17, and the Cardinal secured the win after Stackhouse stuck her approach shot to less than two feet on their final hole. Veysseyre missed her birdie putt from off the green on No. 18 before conceding the hole.
Junior Katelyn Dambaugh and sophomore Ainhoa Olarra both earned points for the Gamecocks. Dambaugh defeated Sierra Kersten 1-up after converting her par putt on the par-4 18th, while Olarra downed Shannon Aubert 4 and 3.
Senior Sarah Schmelzel and freshman Isidora Nilsson suffered tough losses for USC. Schmelzel fell to Casey Danielson 4 and 3 while Nilsson lost to Lauren Kim 6 and 5. Schmelzel ended her collegiate career with her best finish at an NCAA Championship, a 20th- place showing.
Dambaugh honored
Dambaugh was honored as a First Team All-American, the Women’s Golf Coaches Association announced. Dambaugh is one of just 11 NCAA Division I golfers named to the All-America Team.
A native of Goose Creek, Dambaugh entered the week ranked second in the NCAA and tops on the Gamecocks with a 71.03 stroke average. The junior has posted eight top-10 finishes in 10 tournaments this season and won medalist honors at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.
Dambaugh finished T-11th at the stroke play portion of the NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore., with a four-round score of 287 (-1). Led by her efforts, the Gamecocks finished seventh on the team leaderboard to qualify for the match play portion of the Championship.
This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 8:42 PM.