ORLANDO, Fla. – Paced by freshman Jessica Rathbone's two-round, 7-over-par 151, the sixth-ranked Anderson women's golf team is in seventh place following opening-day action, Monday at the 45th Peggy Kirk Bell Memorial Invitational.
Rollins College is hosting the two-day, 54-hole event at the par 72, 6,209 yard Orange Tree Golf Club.
"It was very challenging today as our ladies faced the toughest golf course ever seen by an AU team," said Anderson head coach Danny Neal. "Tight fairways, 6200 yards, deep rough and sloped greens running 12 on the stimpmeter. We shot 315 in the first round - which frankly, wasn't that bad. The second round was a bit more troublesome, as we allowed a few holes to get to us. All of that said, there were bright spots. Anna shooting 74 in the first round kept us within reach of the top teams. And Jess's 72 in the second round was exceptional. We are only 10 shots out of fourth place, which can be made up easily on this golf course. We hope to play a little steadier round tomorrow and hopefully move up a spot or two."
Defending champion and nationally top-ranked Dallas Baptist is looking to make it two straight, with the Patriots leading the 12-team field that includes nine top-25 teams. DBU has claimed seven straight tournament titles and leads third-ranked Lynn by 13 strokes heading into Tuesday's final round. No. 20 Rollins is three shots further back in third place, with No. 17 Tampa trailing the host Tars by one stroke and holding the fourth spot. No. 5 Florida Southern and three-time tourney winner Nova Southeastern are deadlocked in a tie for sixth.
The Trojans are five strokes further back in seventh place, with No. 15 North Georgia alone in eighth place. No. 22 Lee, Embry-Riddle, Eckerd and Palm Beach Atlantic round out the field.
Tampa's Kiira Riihijarvi (74-73=147) leads the battle for individual medalist honors by three shots over Lynn's Helen Kreuzer and Dallas Baptist's Olivia Mitchell. Anderson's Rathbone and Dallas Baptist's Jaycie Stewart share fourth place and are four shots behind Riihijarvi.
Rathbone battled her way back into contention after slicing seven strokes off her opening-round 79 by firing an even-par 72 on the final 18 holes of the day. Senior Anna Freeman opened the day by carding her best round of the year with a 2-over 74 and is in a four-way tie for 23rd heading into Tuesday's third round. Freshman Riley Mayhew is tied for 30th place after posting a two-round 162, while junior Victoria Hall is alone in 36th place following a two-round 164.
Junior Kerington Lamb is tied for 42nd place, with sophomore Emma Charles one shot further back in 46th place.
Tuesday's third round is slated to get underway at 8:45 a.m.
