DAVIE, Fla. – The Anderson women's golf team slipped three spots but played well enough to become the first squad in program history to earn a berth in next week's NCAA National Championship by finishing fourth, Wednesday at the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Golf South Region Championship.
The three-day, 54-hole tournament was hosted by Nova Southeastern at the Grande Oaks Golf Club, on a par 71, 5,887-yard layout.
"We are so excited to be going to the NCAA National Championship!" said Anderson Director of Golf Danny Neal. "And for the first time in school history as a team! The girls have worked really hard to get here and I'm really proud of them for reaching this milestone. We obviously did not perform today the way we wanted to perform, but did achieve our goal of 'taking the next step'. Now we hope to make it to the match play portion of the championship and see what we can do from there."
Among a field that included six of the top-10 teams in the country, nationally second-ranked Lynn and No. 3 Limestone finished tied atop the team leaderboard after the Fighting Knights recovered from Tuesday's subpar round and moved up five spots and back into the top spot after falling to sixth place on Tuesday. Limestone entered Wednesday's final round in second place and trailing AU by two strokes.
Lynn then edged Limestone in a playoff for the regional championship.
No. 10 Lee also climbed five spots and finished third, while the fifth-ranked Trojans were just one shot further back and wrapped up their third straight appearance in the tournament by making history with their second consecutive fourth-place finish and becoming one of the five teams from the south region to move on to the NCAA Championship.
Barry and Saint Leo finished in a deadlock for the fifth spot - and also squared off in a playoff to determine the final team to make next week's trip to the National championship, with Barry winning the tie breaker over Saint Leo for the cut-off.
The host Sharks dropped four spots and shared seventh place with Rollins, with Tampa finishing ninth. Columbus State, West Florida and UNC Pembroke rounded out the 12-team field.
Barry's Alice Gotbring (73-74-71=218), the nation's top-ranked golfer, overcame a three-shot deficit to claim individual medalist honors by one stroke over Lee's Alex Naumovski (75-75-69=219), who vaulted 15 spots up the leaderboard to claim runner-up honors after firing the best round of the tourney on Wednesday.
Limestone's Ebba Hellman (74-70-76=220), who is ranked third in the nation, finished in a tie for third place, alongside teammate Maria Morales (74-74-72=220), who began Wednesday's final round in a tie for eighth place.
Anderson sophomore Jessica Rathbone finished in a four-way tie for seventh place, just four shots off the pace, while senior Victoria Hall and freshman Kennedy McGaha shared 15th place. Senior Kerington Lamb finished in a tie for 36th, with Emma Charles claiming a share of 43rd place.
Both Hall, who competed as an individual at the 2019 NCAA National Championship, and Charles, who competed at last year's National Championship, are making a return trip to the national stage.
A total of 98 golfers (18 teams + 8 individuals) from around the nation will converge next week in the mountains of north Georgia, with the University of North Georgia hosting the NCAA Division II National Championships, Tuesday-Saturday, May 10-14, at the Chattahoochee Golf Club in Gainesville, Ga.
Joining the Trojans next week in the Peach State will be Limestone, Lynn, Lee, and Barry, along with Lander's Hannah Stephenson and Saint Leo's Francesca Santoni, who defeated Columbus State's Victoria Libaak in a playoff on No. 10.
ANDERSON
4 Anderson 296 293 307 896
T7 Jessica Rathbone 73 73 76 222
T15 Kennedy McGaha 73 74 77 224
T15 Victoria Hall 75 72 77 224
T36 Kerington Lamb 75 74 80 229
T43 Emma Charles 76 77 77 230
TEAMS Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd3 Total To Par
1 Lynn 295 305 289 889 +37
2 Limestone 302 289 298 889 +37
3 Lee 304 301 290 895 +43
4 Anderson 296 293 307 896 +44
T5 Barry 304 295 299 898 +46
T5 Saint Leo 296 302 300 898 +46
T7 Nova Southeastern 300 298 301 899 +47
T7 Rollins 308 299 292 899 +47
9 Tampa 300 302 298 900 +48
10 Columbus State 307 305 304 916 +64
11 West Florida 305 312 303 920 +68
12 UNC Pembroke 318 303 315 936 +84
NOTABLES
• The top five teams from the regional along with the top two individuals not on an advancing team are moving on to the NCAA Division II National Championships slated for May 10-14 at the Chattahoochee Golf Club in Gainesville, Ga.
• The top three (central) and five (east, south and west) teams along with the top two individuals not on an advancing team are advancing to the championships.
• Nationally, 48 teams and 24 individuals competed this week in the regional competition of the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Golf Championships.
• The Trojans are making their first appearance as a team in the NCAA National Championship.
• AU's three-round 896 mark's the best three-round score in program history at the NCAA South Regional – surpassing the 924 from 2019.
• The Trojans' 54-hole 896 marks the sixth-best score in program history.
• Rathbone's three-round 222 marked the second-lowest 54-hole score in program history for the NCAA South Region.
• Hall and McGaha's three-round 224s marked the fourth lowest 54-hole scores in program history for the NCAA South Region.
• 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 second-round 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.
• Rathbone and McGaha's 73s mark the program's fourth-best rounds at the NCAA South Regional.
• AU made its third consecutive appearance at the NCAA South Region Championships after winning the SAC Championship – its second in three years.
• AU also competed at the 2019 and 2021 NCAA South Region Championships (The 2020 Championship was canceled due to the pandemic).
• Victoria Hall competed as an individual at the 2019 NCAA National Championships.
• Emma Charles earned a berth in the 2021 NCAA National Championships.
• The Trojans have finished no lower than fourth in a tournament this year.
• 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 was seeking its first title since 2016.
• Nova Southeastern claimed four straight national championships from 2009 through 2012.
