Upstate Ready for Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic
2/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Spartanburg, S.C. – The USC Upstate women's golf team is set to open play in the Edwin Watts/Kiawah Island Classic, the largest women's golf tournament field in the nation, Sunday on the Osprey Point and Cougar Point courses at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
The tournament is hosted by the College of Charleston (No. 65) with 40 teams competing in the 54-hole tournament. In addition to Upstate and the Cougars, the field will consist of Ball State, Bethune-Cookman, Boston College, Boston U., Bucknell, Charleston Southern, Chattanooga (No. 84), The Citadel, Delaware, Elon (No. 94), Florida Gulf Coast, Georgetown, High Point, Illinois State, Jacksonville, Jacksonville State, Longwood, Loyola, Marshall, Navy, North Florida, Presbyterian, Radford, Richmond, Rutgers, Samford, Savannah College of Art & Design, Seton Hall, South Alabama, St. John's, Stetson, Towson, Troy (No. 98), UNC Greensboro, USC Beaufort, Upstate, Western Carolina, Western Kentucky and William & Mary. There are 18 teams ranked in the Top 150 in the nation and four in the Top 100.
Upstate head coach Todd Lawton will send the lineup of Eden Howard, Payton Culler, Rachel Reiling, Sidney Dermody and Kinsey Soniat into action this week. The Spartans average 320.5 per round with newcomer Howard leading the way at 78.3 strokes per round. She finished tied for 20th in her first collegiate tournament at the FGCU Invitational.
Quick Notes
• Rachel Reiling currently ranks fifth all-time at Upstate with an 81.16 career stroke average.
• Eden Howard competed in her first collegiate tournament and led all Spartans at the FGCU Invitational in early February. She shot rounds of 79, 76 and 80 to finish tied for 20th. The 76 stands as the 10th-lowest round of the season for Upstate.
• Payton Culler and Rachel Reiling are tied for the team's season low round, each firing a 73 this season.
Culler's 73 came in the first round of the Great Smokies Intercollegiate and Reiling's came in the second round of the JU Classic.
• Sidney Dermody and Rachel Reiling are tied for the team lead with eight rounds in the 70's.
• Upstate has made 91 birdies in six tournaments so far this season. The Spartans' top effort came in the CSU Wendy's Invitational while making 28 birdies in three rounds.
• Rachel Reiling and Sidney Dermody each own winning percentages above .500. Reiling leads the team with a .555 percentage, while Dermody is at .546.
• Rachel Reiling was named the A-Sun Golfer of the Week on Oct. 22 after claiming a sixth-place finish at the Terrier Intercollegiate. It was her first career weekly honor and the second all-time for an Upstate women's golfer.
