Gamecocks exit fall golf season brimming with optimism

The University of South Carolina launched the women’s golf season with their usual lofty expectations, and the team did nothing to diminish the optimism during the fall tournaments.

Playing what the coaches call “stacked fields,” the Gamecocks finished no worse than fourth in any of their four fall starts and will head into the spring campaign ranked No. 4 in the national polls.

“We didn’t have a (tournament) win, but maybe that’s a good thing,” veteran coach Kalen Anderson said in reviewing her team’s fall performances. “We won five tournaments last season and maybe we got a little complacent.”

Indeed, the Gamecocks entered the national championship in May seeded No. 3, started slowly and finished a disappointing 14th overall.

Incentive for the coming spring?

“You obviously always want to be playing your best in the national championship tournaments,” Anderson said. “We’ve been productive, progressed a lot (in the fall) and we’ve talked about what we need to do going forward to get where we want to be.”

And that goal is?

“The national championship,” she said. “Absolutely.”

Anderson spent the spring tinkering with lineup combinations that always began with Hannah Darling at the top. The sophomore All-American, ranked No. 6 in the women’s world amateur rankings and No. 3 among college players, delivered in a big way with top-six finishes individually in all four fall events.

“Very solid, very consistent,” Anderson said.

Senior Mathilde Claisse “played very well all fall,” the coach said, noting a pair a top-10 performances. Add sophomore Louise Rydqvist, an honorable mention All-American her freshman year, and senior Justine Fournand, and the Gamecocks have a wealth of experience.

Include graduate transfer Katherine Muzi and freshman Mia Lussand, both with solid credentials, and it’s little wonder that Anderson looks to the spring with optimism.

“We’ve had a good meeting with each player, and we’ve talked about what each one needs to do to improve and get the team to the national championship,” the coach said. “We will be a team hungry for success, and we have the players to achieve our goal.

“Even though we played well in the fall, we have not reached our peak.”

Anderson wants to see her squad develop toward that peak for the national tournaments and will get a hint in the potential in its own event — the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate, set for Feb. 27-March 1 at Long Cove Club on Hilton Head Island.

“We have another great field,” she said, pointing out that entries include 10 of the top 20 teams in the Golfstat national poll. “Tournaments like that prepare you for the nationals.”

Four of the Gamecocks played in the national championship tournament in May, and Muzi, who transferred after graduating from South California, is another piece to the puzzle.

“We’ll see, but I really like our team,” Anderson said. “We always have high expectations, and this year is no different. Our goal is the national championship. Absolutely.”

Chip shots. The Columbia CC amateur team of Eddie Hargett, Brad Krapfel and Dan Sullivan won the SCGA’s Lathrop Cup at the CC of Lexington. In the pro-am division, teams from the River Club and Golden Hills Golf & CC shared the title. ... Danny Allen, long-time superintendent at Camden CC and now at Aero Short Course in Myrtle Beach, received the Carolina Golf Course Superintendents Association’s Distinguished Service Award at the organization’s annual conference and trade show in Myrtle Beach. Allen’s 50-year career includes almost 40 at Camden.