Upstate Hits the S.C. Coast for the Low Country Intercollegiate
3/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
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Spartanburg, S.C. – Bouyed by a second place finish by Eden Howard and a third place finish in the team standings at the Seminole State Invitational last week, the USC Upstate women's golf team is set to begin play at the Low Country Intercollegiate Saturday and Sunday at Marsh Creek Plantation on Hilton Head Island.
The Low Country Intercollegiate is hosted by Wofford. Upstate and the Lady Terriers are two of 15 teams who will vie for the team championship. The other teams in the field are Appalachian State, Bethune-Cookman, The Citadel, Gardner-Webb, High Point, Indiana State, Navy, Presbyterian, Radford, SCAD-Savannah, St. Francis -NY and Towson. Princeton is ranked No. 97 in Division I women's golf and SCAD-Savannah is third in the NAIA ranks.
Upstate head coach Todd Lawton will send the lineup of Eden Howard, Payton Culler, Rachel Reiling, Sidney Dermody and Allea Hawkins into action this week. The Spartans are averaging 320.7 per round for the season. Culler, Reiling and Dermody have played in every tournament this season, while Hawkins has played in five. Howard joined the team in January and has played in every event this spring.
Upstate is coming off its best showing of the season at the Seminole State Invitational. The Spartans claimed third place after shooting rounds of 321 and 315 for a 636 total. They finished ahead of four teams ranked higher in the NCAA Golfstat team rankings. Howard led the Upstate charge with rounds of 78 and 71 to finish second by just one stroke. It was the highest finish of her young career. Payton Culler and Rachel Reiling also finished in the Top 20 with Culler tying for 13th and Reiling tying for 18th.
Quick Notes
- Eden Howard's 71 in the final round of the Seminole State Invitational not only secured a second-place individual finish, it also set a new low round for the season for Upstate. The previous low round was 73.
- The 71 shot by Eden Howard in the final round of the Seminole State Invitational is tied for the second-lowest round ever shot in the history of the program. Howard tied Rachel Lewis, who shot a 71 in the second round of the Great Smokies Intercollegiate in 2011. The all-time low round was a 69, also shot by Rachel Lewis in the 2010 Great Smokies Intercollegiate.
- All eight Spartans on the team have played at least eight tournament rounds this season.
- Eden Howard has shot rounds in the 70's six times in eight rounds this season, all coming in the spring.
- Sidney Dermody is the first Spartan in the history of the program to shoot in the 70's in the first five rounds of her career. She ran her streak to seven straight rounds in the 70's before carding an 81 in the final round of the JU Classic on Oct. 14.
- Rachel Reiling and Sidney Dermody are tied for the team lead with nine rounds in the 70's this year.
- Eden Howard and Rachel Reiling own winning percentages above. 500 for the season with Howard leading the way at .640 and Reiling coming in at .571.
- 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.
