University of South Carolina Upstate Athletics
TPC Sawgrass Labor Day Shootout
Lewis Leads Spartans At TPC Sawgrass
9/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
TPC Sawgrass Labor Day Shootout
Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – Rachel Lewis led a quartet of freshman women's golfers who helped usher in the 2010-11 season for USC Upstate, finishing 24th in the TPC Sawgrass Labor Day Shootout Monday afternoon, played on the world famous Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass.
Lewis, from Llanishen, Wales, was one of four freshman playing in the tournament for Upstate. The Spartans' other two players were seniors Johanna Ebenhag and Summer Wall. Lewis opened with an 85 and closed with a 43 over nine holes as the tournament was shortened to 27 holes due to darkness. Lewis' 128 total was good for a 24th-place finish as the low Spartan in the tournament. The tournament format called for six players to compete for each of the six teams in the tournament with the typical four scores counting toward the team total.
Upstate is a young team and has five freshmen on its eight-player roster. While head coach Todd Lawton could have eased the Spartans into the season, the opportunity to play on one of the world's top courses and in a strong field was too much to pass up. The highlight of the action on Monday came when senior Summer Wall, from Chesnee, S.C., and Ebenhag, from Gothenberg, Sweden, each birdied the famed island green par-3 17th hole.
"We had a few highs and lots of lows today," said Lawton. "The two birdies on the famed island 17th were matched by too many high numbers on all our player's cards. This course seldom rewards anything but perfect play and we were there only a few times."
Despite a rough start to the season, especially with such a young and inexperienced, Lawton can see some positives coming out of the tournament.
"I'm convinced that getting beat up on the course today will not dampen our youthful spirit, but will engage our player's competitive natures." said Lawton. "They all want to be competitive. The beauty of golf is that we can address specific mental and shot-making deficiencies as we move forward."
Upstate finished last in the six-team field with a 537 total. Coastal Carolina, which finished No. 61 in the Golfstat rankings last year, won the tournament with a 464 total. Florida, ranked 25th in the nation last year, tied Chattanooga at 472. Central Florida was fourth at 479 and A-Sun foe Jacksonville was fifth at 517. Coastal's Courtney Boe won the individual championship with a 3-over-par total.
Amanda Hall, a freshman from Fort Mill, S.C., finished tied for 30th in the tournament with Ebenhag at 135. Taylor Pleier, also a freshman and from Spartanburg and a Dorman High School graduate, finished tied for 34th with a 139 total, while Madison Bryant, a freshman from Chapin, S.C., was 36th at 146. Wall finished tied for 37th at 147.
