GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Paced by sophomore Jessica Rathbone's two-round, 1-over-par 145, the Anderson women's golf team is tied for fourth place following the second day of the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Golf National Championships, Wednesday.
North Georgia and the Greater Gainesville Sports Alliance are hosting the tournament on a par-72, 6,004-yard Chattahoochee Golf Club layout.
"We really played our B game today," said Anderson Associate Head Coach Denton Moore. "It wasn't bad, it wasn't good. We haven't gotten a great feel for the greens yet. I believe after three days on them now, we will chip and putt our best tomorrow. We are going to have to if we want to make the match play. Jessica Rathbone and Kennedy McGaha have been our best two players all year long, and they have continued to carry us here this week. So proud of both of them this week. We will need their best tomorrow to keep moving forward. Kerington Lamb just continues to play steady. She is about two holes away this week from being really good. Emma Charles is the same - really strong for about 32 holes so far. Just a couple things we need them to clean up and they will be good to go. Victoria Hall is right there. She will be there for us tomorrow, I know she will. When you need Vic the most, that's when she comes through."
With just nine strokes separating first place from seventh place, top-ranked and defending national champion Dallas Baptist leads 10th-ranked Lee by just one shot, with third-ranked Limestone in third place after rocketing up the leaderboard nine spots from 12th place on Wednesday on the strength of the tourney's best round, so far.
The fourth-ranked Trojans, who led the illustrious field following Tuesday's opening round, slipped three spots and share fourth place with nationally second-ranked Lynn, while trailing Lee by just five strokes and Limestone by only two shots after adding another seven birdies to their two-day tally.
Barry slipped one spot and is in sixth place, while trailing AU and Lynn by one stroke, with West Texas A&M holding the seventh slot. Colorado Christian and Findlay are eighth and ninth, respectively, while Henderson State is in 10th place. Texas A&M Commerce holds the 11th spot and Grand Valley State climbed three spots into 12th place. Indianapolis and Central Missouri remained deadlocked in 11th place, with Rogers State falling eight spots into 15th place.
Missouri-St. Louis, Texas A&M International and Tiffin rounded out the 18-team field.
Academy of Art's Anahi Servin (69-69=138) broke away from a three-way tie at the top of the individual leaderboard and leads Lee's Alex Naumovski (69-72=141) by three shots heading into Thursday's third round. Dallas Baptist's Jordan Karrh (74-69=143) leapt 13 spots up the leaderboard and is tied for third place with Lee's Supuschaya Srinchantamit (72-71=143) and Colorado Christian's Faith Kilgore (69-74=143).
With the Trojans starting the second round on the back nine, Rathbone notched a pair of birdies on the day and is tied for eighth place after posting an even-par 72. Freshman Kennedy McGaha is tied for 14th place, with junior Emma Charles also notching a pair of birdies during Wednesday's second round and closed out the day in a tie for 32nd place. Senior Kerington Lamb is in a six-way tie for 39th place after posting her second consecutive 4-over 76, while senior Victoria Hall rounded out the Trojan contingent in a tie for 79th place.
"We don't need any of them to be perfect," added Moore. "We just need them to all be steady, focused and locked in to each shot. If they do that, we will be in the match play on Friday. From there it's all about who plays best on that day. I will take our crew against anyone in that scenario. We are looking forward to the challenge tomorrow, and I truly believe. The girls are ready."
Following 54 holes of stroke play, an individual champion will be declared along with finishers 2-10 on Thursday. The top eight teams will then be placed into a bracket and seeded based on 54-hole scores, with the team quarterfinal and semifinal rounds on Friday and the finals occurring on Saturday.
Thursday's final round of stroke play is scheduled to get underway at 8 a.m., with the Trojans slated to tee off at 11:50 a.m.
T4 Anderson 295 300 595
T8 Jessica Rathbone 73 72 145
T14 Kennedy McGaha 73 74 147
T32 Emma Charles 73 78 151
T39 Kerington Lamb 76 76 152
T79 Victoria Hall 77 82 159
2 Team Rd 1 Rd2 Total To Par
1 Dallas Baptist 296 293 589 +13
2 Lee 297 293 590 +14
3 Limestone 307 286 593 +17
T4 Anderson 295 300 595 +19
T4 Lynn 298 297 595 +19
6 Barry 299 297 596 +20
7 West Texas A&M 304 294 598 +22
8 Colorado Christian 301 304 605 +29
9 Findlay 304 302 606 +30
10 Henderson State 304 304 608 +32
11 Texas A&M-Commerce 306 305 611 +35
12 Grand Valley State 312 301 613 +37
T13 Central Missouri 310 304 614 +38
T13 UIndy 310 304 614 +38
15 Rogers State 303 315 618 +42
T16 Missouri - St. Louis 312 310 622 +46
T16 Texas A&M Int'l 315 307 622 +46
18 Tiffin 317 322 639 +63
NOTABLES
• The Trojans are fourth in the 18-team field with 22 birdies over the first two rounds.
• AU's two-round 595 is the 16th lowest 36-hole score in program history.
• Jessica Rathbone's 2-day 145 matches the 18th-lowest round in school history.
• The Trojans carded fifteen birdies during Tuesday's first round, including twelve over the final seven holes and followed up with seven birdies on Wednesday.
• Fifteen of the 18 teams competing in Gainesville, including seven of the nation's top-10 squads, are ranked in Golfstat's Top-25.
• Sixteen of the top-25 ranked individuals, including nine of the top-10, are in Gainesville.
• Victoria Hall competed as an individual at the 2019 National Championships.
• Emma Charles competed as an individual at the 2021 National Championships.
• Dallas Baptist is the defending national champion, while UIndy is seeking its third title in seven years. Barry won the 2017 National Championship.
