GREENWOOD, S.C. – The Anderson women's golf team posted the program's lowest round in nearly 2 ½ years on Monday with an opening-round 290 and is in second place at the Bearcat Classic.
Lander is hosting the 36-hole, two-day tournament on a 5,806 yard, par-72 Stoney Point Golf Club layout.
"The course was wet but conditions were good for scoring with light winds and sunny, warm temperatures," said Anderson head coach Danny Neal. "I am proud of the ladies for taking advantage of that and placing us in second. But we will need to play well again tomorrow, as we have Flagler and Lee very close behind us. Anna (Freeman) - making 2 birdies and 16 pars. Kerington (Lamb) also played very well. With Jess (Rathbone) and Vic (Hall) adding 74s. We are looking forward to competing tomorrow."
The eighth-ranked Trojans trail No. 2 Limestone by three strokes entering Tuesday's final round, with No. 19 Flagler two strokes further back in third place. Lee and Tusculum are fourth and fifth, respectively, while 20th-ranked Wingate is sixth and Lenoir-Rhyne holds the seventh slot. Saint Leo is eighth, with Lincoln Memorial in ninth place.
Columbus State is 10th and the host Bearcats are 11th, with Montevallo in 12th place. UNC Pembroke, Belmont Abbey, Emmanuel, Converse, North Greenville, Queens, Southern Wesleyan, Erskine, Young Harris, Newberry, Coker, Columbia College and Catawba rounded out the 25-team field.
Limestone's Lena Schilowsky fired a first-round 4-under-par 68 and leads Lee's Emily Ritchie by one shot in the battle for individual honors. AU senior Anna Freeman carded an opening round 2-under 70 - her lowest round of the year – and is tied for third, alongside Limestone's Ebba Hellman. Four additional golfers are just three strokes behind Schilowsky.
Junior Kerington Lamb also notched her lowest round of the year with an even-par 72 and is tied for ninth heading into Tuesday's final round. Junior Victoria Hall is tied for 14th place after posting her lowest round of the year (74) and freshman Jessica Rathbone is also tied for 14th place. Sophomore Emma Charles (76) is deadlocked in 30th place, with freshman Riley Mayhew tied for 46th place.
The second and final round is scheduled to get underway at 8:30 a.m., Tuesday morning.
2 Anderson 290 290
T3 Anna Freeman 70 70
T9 Kerington Lamb 72 72
T14 Jessica Rathbone 74 74
T14 Victoria Hall 74 74
T46 Riley Mayhew 78 78
1 Team Scores
1 Limestone 283 -5
2 Anderson 290 +2
3 Flagler 292 +4
4 Lee 293 +5
5 Tusculum 303 +15
6 Wingate 304 +16
7 Lenoir-Rhyne 306 +18
8 Saint Leo 310 +22
9 Lincoln Memorial 311 +23
10 Columbus State 313 +25
11 Lander 314 +26
12 Montevallo 315 +27
13 UNC Pembroke 318 +30
T14 Belmont Abbey 319 +31
T14 Emmanuel 319 +31
16 Converse 323 +35
T17 No. Greenville 326 +38
T17 Queens 326 +38
19 So. Wesleyan 332 +44
T20 Erskine 336 +48
T20 Young Harris 336 +48
T22 Newberry 338 +50
T22 Coker 338 +50
24 Columbia 345 +57
25 Catawba 349 +61
