DAHLONEGA, Ga. – In a field that features five of the top-10 ranked teams in the nation, including No. 1 Dallas Baptist, the Anderson University women's golf team is tied for fifth place following the first two rounds of the 8th Annual LeeAnn Noble Memorial, Monday at the Achasta Golf Club.
North Georgia is hosting the two-day, 54-hole tourney on a 5,934 yard, par-72 layout.
"Obviously, we were happier with the 2nd round than the first," said Anderson Director of Golf Danny Neal. "Proud of the way the ladies settled down after a less than stellar start to round one. It was a very up and down day; with many birdies being made, but too many bogeys and doubles to go with them. We are within reach of some very good teams if we play a bit more consistently tomorrow and eliminate some of the big numbers."
Sixth-ranked Limestone holds an impressive 12-shot lead over No. 9 Findlay in the battle for the team championship, with the host Nighthawks just four strokes further back in third place. Top-ranked Dallas Baptist holds the fourth slot, with Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne just three shots further back, in a tie for fifth place.
The nationally fourth-ranked Trojans have traditionally played well in the Georgia mountains – winning the 2018 event behind a school-record 287 – and used 18 birdies and an eagle from Rathbone to offset 14 bogeys, five double-bogeys and a triple bogey on the day. Their second-round 289 marked the fourth-best round in program history.
St. Leo, which is receiving votes in the latest Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Poll, is in seventh place, with Florida Southern in eighth place. No. 13 Lee, West Georgia and Lander are ninth, 10th and 11th, respectively, with Columbus State, West Florida, No. 8 Missouri-St. Louis, Lincoln Memorial, Belmont Abbey, North Greenville and Young Harris rounding out the 18-team field.
A trio of Limestone Saints are atop the individual leaderboard, with Ebba Hellman (69-67=136) holding a four-stroke lead over teammate Lena Schilowsky (69-71=140). The Saints' Stina Wikstrom (72-69=141) and Findlay's Jill Schmitmeyer (71-70=141) are deadlocked in third place, while West Georgia's Ainsley Cowart (71-71=142) is alone in fifth place.
AU sophomore Jessica Rathbone moved up 13 spots and is tied for sixth after following up an opening-round 1-over-par 73 with a second-round 70 – which equaled her best round of the season from last month's South Region Preview. The Montpelier, Va., native also equaled the second-lowest 36-hole score in school history (143) with the 2-under effort.
Freshman Kennedy McGaha slashed nine strokes off her opening-round 78 by matching the second-best score of the day with a second-round 3-under 69, with the Honea Path native vaulting 38 spots into a share of 23rd place by matching the third-best score in school history.
Junior Emma Charles matched her season-best score with a first-round 1-under-par 71 and sits alongside McGaha in the seven-way tie for 23rd place heading into Tuesday's final round.
Senior Victoria Hall posted back-to-back 2-over-par 74s and shares 30th place, while fellow senior Kerington Lamb is tied for 69th place after notching a 6-over 78 in both rounds.
The third and final round is slated to get underway Tuesday morning.
Notables
• The Trojans' second-round 289 marked the fourth-best round in program history.
• Jessica Rathbone's two-round 143 matched the second-best 36-hole score in program history.
• Rathbone's second-round 2-under-par 70 matched the seventh-lowest round in school history.
• Kennedy McGaha's second-round 69 matched the third-lowest round in program history, with her 147 matching the 14th-best round in school history.
• Emma Charles' first-round 71 matches the 13th-lowest round in school history.
T5 Anderson 296 289 585
T6 Jessica Rathbone 73 70 143
T23 Kennedy McGaha 78 69 147
T23 Emma Charles 71 76 147
T30 Victoria Hall 74 74 148
T69 Kerington Lamb 78 78 156
Team Scores
1 Limestone 283 280 563 -13
2 Findlay 291 284 575 -1
3 North Georgia 291 288 579 +3
4 Dallas Baptist 293 289 582 +6
T5 Lenoir-Rhyne 297 288 585 +9
T5 Anderson 296 289 585 +9
7 Saint Leo 291 295 586 +10
8 Florida Southern 305 286 591 +15
9 Lee 296 298 594 +18
10 West Georgia 296 300 596 +20
11 Lander 295 305 600 +24
12 Columbus State 303 299 602 +26
T13 West Florida 302 301 603 +27
T13 UMSL 299 304 603 +27
15 LMU 299 318 617 +41
16 Belmont Abbey 321 307 628 +52
17 North Greenville 324 327 651 +75
18 Young Harris 328 326 654 +78
