ANDERSON, S.C. – The No. 3-ranked Anderson University women's golf team is set to open its' fall schedule amongst an extraordinarily challenging field Monday at the Dallas Baptist Women's Classic.
The two-day, 54-hole tourney, with 36 holes on Monday and 18 scheduled for Tuesday, will be played on a par-72, 6152-yard layout at the Robson Ranch Wildhorse Golf Club in Denton, Texas.
Joining the third-ranked Trojans in the battle for the team title will be at least ten teams in the Mizuno Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Preseason Top-25, including the top-ranked and host Patriots, along with Lynn and Barry, who are also in the top-10. Fourteen teams in the field were either ranked or "received votes" in the preseason rankings.
Anderson's roster features five letterwinners from last year's squad that won the 2022 South Atlantic Conference Championship on the strength of a SAC-Tournament record three-round 886, with Jessica Rathbone winning the individual title and all five Trojans finishing among the top 25 golfers in the tournament.
AU then earned its third consecutive bid to the NCAA South Region Tournament, where the Trojans became the first team in program history to earn a berth in the NCAA Championship after finishing fourth in the Regional Championship. AU was among the final four teams standing in head-to-head medal match play at the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships before being edged by Limestone in the national semifinals.
Rathbone is currently ranked seventh nationally by Golfstat, while teammate Kennedy McGaha was tabbed 18th in Golfstat's latest rankings. Kerington Lamb is at No. 55, with Emma Charles ranked 70th heading into the year.
Rathbone is a two-time WGCA All-America honoree and has captured First-Team All-South Atlantic Conference accolades in each of her first two collegiate seasons, while McGaha was named the South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year and went on to collect Second-Team All-America honors following last season.
Lamb, who carded a program-record 66 (-6) in the final round of last February's Lady Moc Classic, was one of five Trojans to earn all-conference honors last season, while Charles owned six top-25 performances last season, including a share of 22nd place at the NCAA National Championships. Zoey Iglesias captured Third-Team All-South Atlantic Conference recognition at the conclusion of last season, while collecting while notching four top-25 performances in five tourney appearances. The Port St. Lucie, Fla., native matched the team's second-lowest round of the year with a 67 in the second round of the Patsy Rendleman Invitational.
Dallas Baptist, the top-ranked team in the nation, opened the year with a 22-stroke victory at the UIndy Fall Invitational last week. The Patriots' Jordan Karrh won the individual title after outlasting Lee University's Supuschaya Srinchanantamit, while DBU placed four on the top-25 leaderboard.
DBU made its sixth consecutive trip to Nationals last year and reached the Match Play Quarterfinals at the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships in Gainesville, Ga., alongside the Trojans. The Patriots returned eight letterwinners from last year's squad, including five All-Americans.
The Trojans slipped past then nationally second-ranked Lynn, which won the NCAA South Regional, in last year's NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals. Sixth-ranked Barry won the 2017 championship and finished third a year ago in Gainesville, after finishing as national runners-up in 2002 and 2014. Henderson State and Indianapolis, which will be seeking its third national title in eight years, also made appearances on the national stage in Gainesville last year.
In addition to the five veteran returners, Director of Golf, Danny Neal, and Head Women's Coach, Denton Moore, brought in newcomers Aly Francis, Kennedy Gooding and Paige Paolucci to bolster the Trojans' lineup.
Mizuno Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) National Poll (Top 25)
Team Ranking
Dallas Baptist No. 1
Anderson No. 3
Lynn No. 4
Barry No. 6
Indianapolis No. 11
Tampa No. 12
Henderson State No. 13
Saint Leo No. 14
Missouri-St. Louis No. 23
St. Mary's - Texas No. 25
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