DAVIE, Fla. – With three Trojans finishing the second day among the top five and four inside the top eleven spots, the nationally fifth-ranked Anderson women's golf team is in first place following second-round action, Tuesday at the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Golf South Region Championship.
Nova Southeastern is playing host to the three-day, 54-hole tournament at the Grande Oaks Golf Club, on a par 71, 5,887-yard layout.
"Today, was nowhere close to our best," said Anderson Associate Head Coach, Denton Moore. "However, we are extremely pleased with the gutsy finish from the girls. We started strong, gave some ground badly, and then we closed in championship form. Kennedy (McGaha) closed the last five holes in 3-under, and really helped bring home the round. Victoria (Hall) turned at +4 and then put together a fantastic 3-under 33 on the back. Kerington (Lamb) was solid as a rock today minus one hole. Jessica (Rathbone) just continues to do what All- Americans are expected to do. Emma (Charles) is extremely close. She is playing solid golf, and I know she will come through tomorrow with a special round.
The Trojans used their best-ever round in three appearances at the NCAA South Region Championship and with the second-round 293 matching the 10th-best round in program history, AU snapped the tie with Saint Leo to claim sole possession of the top spot on the team leaderboard. Limestone trimmed 13 strokes off its opening-round effort with the best round of the tournament and charged up four spots to take claim second place heading into Wednesday's final round.
The host Sharks moved up one spot and shares third place with St. Leo, with Barry holding the fifth slot. Lynn, the defending regional champion and leader following Monday's opening round, dropped five spots into sixth place, while Tampa slipped three slots into seventh place. Lee and Rollins are eighth and ninth, respectively, with Columbus State, West Florida and UNC Pembroke finishing out the 12-team field.
Limestone's Ebba Hellman (74-70=144), who is ranked third in the nation, jumped up 10 spots on the strength of a 1-under par 70 on Tuesday and leads the chase for individual medalist honors. The native of Ronninge, Sweden is the only golfer to fire a below-par round over the first two days of the tournament and leads Saint Leo's Francesca Santoni (71-74=145) by one stroke.
Anderson's Jessica Rathbone (73-73=146), who carded four birdies on Tuesday, and Columbus State's Victoria Libaak (71-75=146) are deadlocked in a tie for third place, just two shots off the pace, while Trojan senior Victoria Hall (75-72=147) climbed 15 spots behind five birdies on the day and moved into a share of fifth place behind the third-best round of the day. The Moore native is tied with Barry's Alice Gotbring (73-74=147) and teammate Kennedy McGaha (73-74=147), who notched birdies on three of her final four holes.
AU senior Kerington Lamb jumped up nine spots into a tie for 11th place, with Emma Charles rounding out the Trojan contingent in a five-way tie for the 35th spot.
"We are excited to be leading the tournament," added Moore. "Especially a tournament of this magnitude. The girls are ready. They have prepared for this all year. They just have to come out loose tomorrow and play solid, smart, Trojan golf. If we do that, win or lose, we will be heading to the national championship in Gainesville, Ga.
Wednesday's second round is slated to get underway at 8 a.m.
1 Anderson 296 293 589
T3 Jessica Rathbone 73 73 146
T5 Kennedy McGaha 73 74 147
T5 Victoria Hall 75 72 147
T11 Kerington Lamb 75 74 149
T35 Emma Charles 76 77 153
Team Scores
1 Anderson 296 293 589 +21
2 Limestone 302 289 591 +23
T3 Nova Southeastern 300 298 598 +30
T3 Saint Leo 296 302 598 +30
5 Barry 304 295 599 +31
6 Lynn 295 305 600 +32
7 Tampa 300 302 602 +34
8 Lee 304 300 604 +36
9 Rollins 308 299 607 +39
10 Columbus State 307 305 612 +44
11 West Florida 305 312 617 +49
12 UNC Pembroke 318 303 621 +53
Notables
• AU's second-round 293 matched its' fifth-lowest round of the year and marked AU's best-ever round at the NCAA South Regional.
• The 293 matched the 10th-best round in program history.
• Hall's second-round 72 matched the second-lowest round of a Trojan golfer at an NCAA South Regional – behind just her own third-round 71 in 2019.
• Hall's second-round 72 matched her second-lowest round of the year – she also carded 72s at the Emerald Coast Classic and at the Findley Spring Invite in March.
• Rathbone's 73 matched the fourth-best round by a Trojan golfer at an NCAA Regional.
• The top five teams from the regional along with the top two individuals not on an advancing team will move on to the NCAA Division II National Championships slated for May 10-14 at the Chattahoochee Golf Club in Gainesville, Ga.
• Nationally, 48 teams and 24 individuals are competing this week in the regional competition of the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championships.
• AU is making its third consecutive appearance at the NCAA South Region Championships after winning the SAC Championship.
• AU also competed at the 2019 and 2021 NCAA South Region Championships (The 2020 Championship was canceled due to the pandemic).
• The Trojans are seeking their first appearance as a team in the NCAA National Championships.
• Tampa claimed the 2021 South Region title by 13 shots over Lynn and finished 14 strokes in front of Limestone.
• Lynn won the 2019 South Region Championship by six strokes over runner-up Limestone.
• Barry captured the 2017 NCAA D-II National Championship.
• Lynn owns a pair of national titles (2013 & 2014).
• Rollins owns six national championships and is seeking its first title since 2016.
• Host Nova Southeastern claimed four straight national championships from 2009-12.
