Upstate Women's Golf Fall Recap: Spartans On the Rise
11/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Spartanburg, S.C. – Armed with two new faces and a solid core of returning players, the USC Upstate women's golf team competed in five tournaments in the fall. By all measures, the program has continued in its progress of not only returning to the form it had early in the days of Division I, but surpassing it.
Upstate turned in a solid fall season playing its five tournaments in four different states. Upstate began the year at the Terrier Intercollegiate in Spartanburg with Brittany Lowe earning her first career Top 10 finish. Upstate then traveled to North Carolina to play in the great Smokies Intercollegiate. A trip north to New Jersey for the Rutgers Invitational followed with Upstate finishing 11th in the 21-team field.
While the Spartans were getting a feel for the new team dynamics with the addition of sophomore transfer Rachel Reiling (Littleton, Colo.) and Malika Allie (Cape Town, South Africa) over the first three tournaments of the year, Upstate kicked it into gear in the final two tournaments. It started with the insertion of senior Marissa Clontz (Greenville, S.C.) into the lineup for the CSU Wendy's Invitational in Charleston. The Spartans finished tied for eighth in the tournament. The Spartans made history when all five players in the lineup shot in the 70s in the same round of a tournament for the first time since the inception of the program. The tournament was also the second time ever that two players shot in the 70s in all three rounds of a 54-hole tournament.
Upstate's solid play continued in its last outing, the Holiday Inn Express/Hatter Classic hosted by A-Sun foe Stetson in Florida. The Spartans finished tied for fourth in the tournament, one spot off its best career finish in six appearances at the event. Junior standout Amanda Hall (Tega Cay, S.C.) led the way by finishing a career-best second with rounds of 74, 77 and 78. For the second tournament in a row, two Spartans finished all three rounds in the 70s.
The depth of the team can easily be seen by the number of different players who finished as the top Spartan in each tournament. In five tournaments, four different players finished as the top Spartan. Last season, three players took turns as the best Spartan finisher in 10 tournaments for the entire year.
The most telling stat of the fall is in the team stroke average. Upstate ended the fall with a 316.8 stroke average. It is on pace to topple the single season school record of 322.3 set in 2008-09. This year's stroke average is 5.5 strokes ahead of pace to break the record.
2012 Fall Tournament Recap
Terrier Intercollegiate
Teams: 13
Upstate Finish: 10th
Top Spartan: Brittany Lowe (T8th)
Best Team Round: 313
Great Smokies Intercollegiate
Teams: 16
Upstate Finish: T13th
Top Spartan: Madison Bryant (T50th)
Best Team Round: 309
Rutgers Invitational
Teams: 21
Upstate Finish: 11th
Top Spartan: Brittany Lowe (T31st)
Best Team Round: 320
CSU Wendy's Invitational
Teams: 14
Upstate Finish: T8th
Top Spartan: Rachel Reiling (T29th)
Best Team Round: 309
Holiday Inn Express/Hatter Classic
Teams: 9
Upstate Finish: T4th
Top Spartan: Amanda Hall (2nd)
Best Team Round: 314
News & Notes
- Upstate's team stroke average of 316.8 is 5.5 strokes better than the single season school record of 322.3 set in 2008-09.
- Four different players have finished as the top Spartan in the five tournaments this fall.
- Taylor Barnes tops the Spartans with a 78.2 stroke average, more than three strokes better than her career average.
- Amanda Hall is second on the team with a 79.4 stroke average, more than a stroke better than her career average.
- Brittany Lowe is third on the team with a 79.8 stroke average, nearly 1.5 shots better than her career average.
- Brittany Lowe earned the program's first every A-Sun Golfer of the Week honors following her performance at the Rutgers Invitational.
- This is the first time in program history that three players have averaged in the 70s at the semester break.
- Amanda Hall finished a career-best second at the Holiday Inn Express/Hatter Classic.
- Brittany Lowe finished a career-best eighth at the Terrier Intercollegiate.
- For the first time in program history Upstate had all five Spartans in the lineup shoot in the 70s in the same round. It came in the first round at the CSU Wendy's Invitational.
- For the second and third time in program history, two Spartans finished a 54-hole tournament by shooting all three rounds in the 70s. The first came when Rachel Reiling and Brittany Lowe shot all three rounds at the CSU Wendy's Invitational and the second came when Amanda Hall and Taylor Barnes shot all three rounds in the 70s at the Holiday Inn Express/Hatter Classic.
