South Carolina’s Katelyn Dambaugh wins SEC Golf Championship by one stroke

It’s been quite a year for South Carolina senior golfer Katelyn Dambaugh. It got better this weekend, as she took medalist honors at the SEC Championship in Hoover, Alabama with a -6 on Sunday. Dambaugh ended up beating Georgia’s Harang Lee by a stroke among individual finishers in this year’s event as she ended with a 12-under 204 for the championship.

Not only did Dambaugh win the event, she did it in style: her 12-under score is the lowest ever in the SEC Championship and a individual program record in any 54-hole event - a record she set in October in Charleston’s Cougar Classic. As the top finisher in the conference, she automatically qualifies for one of four NCAA Regional events to be held in two weeks. Last year, she won the Baton Rouge Regional en route to leading Carolina to a seventh-place team finish in the NCAA Tournament.

The SEC win is part of what’s been a terrific run of success for Dambaugh. She was the team’s top finisher in four of the Gamecocks’ stroke play tournaments in the fall and recorded a runner-up finish in the aforementioned Cougar Classic. She also helped the team set a 54-hole program record 17-under in February’s FSU Match-Up, where they took home runner-up honors.

As a team, South Carolina tied Texas A&M (-4) for 5th. The nationally-ranked Gamecocks should get an at-large bid to regionals when pairings are released on Thursday morning.

Congratulations to Katelyn - she certainly has a successful professional career waiting for her in a few months, and if her collegiate performance is any indication, she’ll be one to watch.