ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Sophomore Jessica Rathbone fired a two-round, 4-over-par 148 and finished tied atop the individual leaderboard, as the No. 7 Anderson women's golf team closed out its fall schedule with its second runner-up performance of the season, Tuesday at the 19th Annual Flagler Fall Slam.
Flagler hosted the 36-hole tournament at the par-72, 6062-yard Marsh Creek Country Club.
Rathbone, along with Limestone's Stina Wikstrom and Ebba Hellman, all finished tied atop the individual leaderboard, with the trio each firing 4-over-par 148s through the first 36 holes of the tournament. But Wikstrom reached par on the first playoff hole while Rathbone bogeyed the No. 1 hole and Hellman carded a double-bogey.
"We couldn't quite get it done today, but I'm still very proud of our ladies," said Anderson Director of Golf Danny Neal. "They fought hard in tough conditions (higher winds and firm greens) to finish second only to another elite team. Jess (Rathbone) was outstanding. The other girls never gave up and took the outcome of the match to the final holes. We have a lot of work to do in preparing for our championship season in the spring."
The seventh-ranked Trojans, who led Seminole State by four strokes and defending champion Limestone by five shots entering Tuesday's final round, saw the nationally second-ranked Saints overcome the five-shot deficit en route to a three-stroke victory.
Lenoir-Rhyne moved up one spot to finish in third place, with Seminole State dropping from second to fourth. The host Saints finished fifth, with Embry-Riddle taking home sixth place and Carson-Newman jumping four spots into the seventh slot. Tusculum also climbed a couple of spots into eighth place, while Columbus State claimed ninth place.
Palm Beach Atlantic, Mount Olive, Eckerd, Eastern Florida State, Queens, Montevallo, Emmanuel, Catawba and Barton finished out the 18-team field.
Senior Victoria Hall carded a two-round 7-over 151 and finished in 10th place, with freshman Kennedy McGaha jumping up six spots to claim a share of 11th place after firing a second-round, 3-over 75 on Tuesday.
Anna Freeman posted a two-round 153 and finished in a five-way tie for 13th place, with junior Emma Charles finishing in a tie for 59th place.
Anderson is scheduled to open its spring slate, Feb. 21-22, at the Lady Moc Classic in Lakeland, Fla.
NOTABLES
• The Trojans also finished as runners-up at the South Region Preview in mid-September.
• Rathbone was bidding for her first outright individual title of the season after also finishing in a tie for first at the South Region Preview.
• In addition to the Trojans, the field included six other teams from the South Atlantic Conference.
• The 36-hole total 604 marked the 15th-lowest score in program history.
• AU claimed its highest finish in nine appearances in St. Augustine after finishing third last year.
• Rathbone's 36-hole 148 matched her two-round score from the Patsy Rendleman Invitational.
2 Anderson 299 305 604
T1 Jessica Rathbone 72 76 148
10 Victoria Hall 74 77 151
T11 Kennedy McGaha 77 75 152
T13 Anna Freeman 76 77 153
T59 Emma Charles 82 84 166
Team Scores
1 Limestone 304 297 601 +25
2 Anderson 299 305 604 +28
3 Lenoir-Rhyne 306 301 607 +31
4 Seminole State 303 305 608 +32
5 Flagler 311 312 623 +47
6 Embry-Riddle 316 311 627 +51
7 Carson-Newman 321 309 630 +54
8 Tusculum 320 312 632 +56
9 Columbus State 319 317 636 +60
10 Palm Beach Atlantic 319 325 644 +68
11 Mount Olive 315 331 646 +70
12 Eckerd 324 324 648 +72
13 Eastern Florida St. 329 320 649 +73
14 Queens 326 327 653 +77
15 Montevallo 337 323 660 +84
16 Emmanuel 343 341 684 +108
17 Catawba 345 343 688 +112
18 Barton 373 389 762 +186
