DAHLONEGA, Ga. – With freshman Kennedy McGaha firing the second-lowest round in school history on Tuesday - and setting a 36-hole school record over the final two rounds - the fourth-ranked Anderson women's golf team finished in fourth place at the 8th Annual LeeAnn Noble Memorial.
North Georgia hosted the two-day, 54-hole tourney on a 5,934 yard, par-72 Achasta Golf Club layout.
Playing in the midst of a field that featured five of the top-10 ranked teams in the nation, including top-ranked Dallas Baptist, the Trojans continued their assault on the school record books.
"I'm really proud of our ladies' ability to bounce back from adversity," said Anderson Director of Golf Danny Neal. "In today's final round, Kennedy fires a 68 and Emma shoots 69 to lead us up the standings to finish fourth in a really strong field. We were able to pass both Lenoir-Rhyne and North Georgia, which are teams we needed to beat to ensure that our ranking stays up. After a few days off, the ladies will get back to work preparing for Flagler's tournament in two weeks."
Nationally sixth-ranked Limestone held a double-digit, 12-shot lead over No. 9 Findlay entering Tuesday's final round, then had to hold off a furious comeback by the Oilers, who set a tournament record with a third-round 278 and finished as runners-up – four strokes behind the Saints. No. 1 Dallas Baptist moved up one spot into third place, with the Trojans also climbing one spot and finishing alone in fourth place.
St. Leo, which is receiving votes in the latest Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Poll, and Florida Southern each jumped a pair of spots and finished fifth and sixth, respectively. The host Nighthawks fell four spots and finished seventh, with Lenoir-Rhyne slipping three slots into eighth place.
No. 13 Lee claimed ninth place, while West Georgia and Lander were 10th and 11th, respectively. Columbus State, No. 8 Missouri-St. Louis, West Florida, Lincoln Memorial, Belmont Abbey, North Greenville and Young Harris finished out the 18-team field.
Limestone's Ebba Hellman (69-67-69=205) led wire-to-wire and set a tournament record en route to claiming individual medalist honors by three shots over West Georgia's Ainsley Cowart (71-71-66=142), who moved up three spots to claim runner-up honors, while equaling the tournament record for 18 holes.
Findlay's Jill Schmitmeyer (71-70-69=210) and Kristina Knisely (75-69-68=212) finished third and fourth, respectively.
McGaha, a freshman from Honea Path, continued her ascent up the individual leaderboard after matching the second-best score of the day by carding a 4-under-par 68 and finishing the three-round tournament in a tie for eighth place. She jumped 38 spots following Monday's opening round into a share of 23rd place at the conclusion of the second round, then moved up 15 slots by matching the second-best score in school history with the 68. Her second and third-round total 137 set a school record.
Sophomore Jessica Rathbone also shared eighth place after carding an even-par 72 in Tuesday's final round, with the Montpelier, Va., native's second and third-round total 142 matching the second-best two-round score in school history – which she set just last February at the Lady Moc Classic.
Junior Emma Charles jumped 11 spots during Tuesday's final round on the strength of a 3-under-par 69 – which matched the fourth-lowest single round in program history – with the Hartsville native rising to share 12th place.
Senior Victoria Hall carded a final round 1-over-par 73 on Tuesday and finished in a six-way tie for 30th place, with classmate Kerington Lamb also notching a 73 and moving up 11 spots intro a share of 58th place.
Following a two-week layoff, the Trojans are slated to wrap up their fall slate at the Flagler Fall Slam.
Notables
• Ten of the teams in the tournament eclipsed the previous tournament 54-hole record of 892, which was set in 2020.
• The Trojans set a school record with their final round 282.
• AU also set a school record with its three-round 867.
• Kennedy McGaha's third-round 68 matched the second-best score in school history … Her second and third-round total 137 set a school record … Her second-round 69 matched the third-lowest round in program history, with her first and second-round total 147 matching the 15th-best two-round total in school history.
• The Trojans' second-round 289 marked the fourth-best round in program history.
• Jessica Rathbone's two-round (2nd and 3rd) 142 matches the second-best two-round score in school history. Her two-round (1st and 2nd) 143 matched the fourth-best 36-hole score in program history. Rathbone's second-round 2-under-par 70 matched the seventh-lowest round in school history.
• Emma Charles' third-round 69 equaled the fourth-lowest in program history, while her first-round 71 matched the 14th-lowest round in school history.
4 Anderson 296 289 282 867
T8 Jessica Rathbone 73 70 72 215
T8 Kennedy McGaha 78 69 68 215
T12 Emma Charles 71 76 69 216
T30 Victoria Hall 74 74 73 221
T58 Kerington Lamb 78 78 73 229
Team Scores
1 Limestone 283 280 286 849 -15
2 Findlay 291 284 278 853 -11
3 Dallas Baptist 293 289 283 865 +1
4 Anderson 296 289 282 867 +3
5 Saint Leo 291 295 293 879 +15
6 Florida Southern 305 286 290 881 +17
7 North Georgia 291 288 305 884 +20
8 Lenoir-Rhyne 297 288 301 886 +22
9 Lee 296 298 293 887 +23
10 West Georgia 296 300 294 890 +26
11 Lander 295 305 296 896 +32
12 Columbus State 303 299 300 902 +38
13 Missouri - St. Louis 299 304 300 903 +39
14 West Florida 302 301 301 904 +40
15 Lincoln Memorial 299 318 303 920 +56
16 Belmont Abbey 321 307 315 943 +79
17 North Greenville 324 327 320 970 +106
18 Young Harris 328 326 335 989 +125
