DENTON, Texas – Paced by sophomore Kennedy McGaha's two-round, 1-over-par 145, the third-ranked Anderson women's golf team is in 11th place following Monday's first two rounds of the Dallas Baptist Classic, which is being hosted by the Patriots on a par-72, 6152-yard Robson Ranch Wildhorse Golf Club layout.
"Really not a bad day overall," said Anderson Head Women's Coach Denton Moore. "Just really disappointed in the way we putted. We had 15 3-putts amongst the five girls today, and that will do it. I thought we hit the ball really well today. Lots of greens, but it just wasn't there on the greens.
Ten teams in the Mizuno Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) Preseason Top-25, including four of the top-10 squads in the nation, are competing in the Lone Star State, with No. 4 Lynn leading the 16-team field by five shots over 13th-ranked Henderson State. No. 14 Saint Leo is one stroke further back in third place, with Tampa in fifth place. Midwestern State, which was unranked entering the tourney, shares fifth place with 11th-ranked Indianapolis, while Missouri – St. Louis is alone in seventh place. UT-Tyler and Dallas Baptist are tied for eighth, with St. Mary's (TX) in ninth place.
AU, Arkansas Tech, North Georgia, Oklahoma Christian, Barry and Central Oklahoma finished out the field.
Lynn's Maria Hoyos (68-65=133) leads UMSL's Tove Brunell (70-67=137) and St. Leo's Elena Verticchio (69-68=137) by four shots, while St. Mary's Rebecca Reed is two shots further back in fourth place.
McGaha is in a nine-way tie for 17th, while senior Emma Charles is tied for 26th and freshman Kennedy Gooding heads into Tuesday's final round in a share of 45th place. Junior Jessica Rathbone is tied for 58th place, with sophomore Zoey Iglesias in a six-way tie for 67th place.
"Kennedy (McGaha) was solid most of the day," added Moore. "Outside of maybe two holes she was really good, and exactly what you would expect an All-American to do. I was really impressed with Kennedy (Gooding) today. She was rock solid. To play the way she did today in her first tournament ever as a Trojan on this stage, I was very impressed with her. Emma (Charles) was really good today. She hit it as good as I have seen her in quite a while. Exceptional first round for her. Jess and Zoey both looked great at times, just have to be a little more consistent. Overall, we just have to putt better. That is what this boils down to. If you want to compete at the highest level of golf, you have to chip and putt well. It's 65% of your round, and we didn't do that well today. This group is good, and we will be fine, just got to clean up some silly stuff. We have an awesome group, and I expect them to play well tomorrow."
Tuesday's final round is slated to get underway at 9:30 a.m. (eastern).
Notables
• McGaha eagled the par-5, 462-yard 17th hole in the second round.
• AU's second-round 294 matched the 13th-best round in program history.
• The Trojans' first-round 296 matched the 20th lowest round in school history.
11 Anderson 296 294 590
T17 Kennedy McGaha 74 71 145
T26 Emma Charles 71 75 146
T45 Kennedy Gooding 74 75 149
T58 Jessica Rathbone 77 74 151
T67 Zoey Iglesias 78 74 152
Team Scores
1 Lynn 285 285 570 -6
2 Henderson State 285 290 575 -1
3 Saint Leo 291 285 576 E
4 Tampa 296 286 582 +6
T5 Midwestern St. 287 296 583 +7
T5 Indianapolis 290 293 583 +7
7 Missouri - St. Louis 293 291 584 +8
T8 DBU 294 292 586 +10
T8 UT Tyler 293 293 586 +10
10 St. Mary's (TX) 296 291 587 +11
11 Anderson 296 294 590 +14
12 Arkansas Tech 297 294 591 +15
13 North Georgia 298 294 592 +16
14 Oklahoma Christian 296 297 593 +17
15 Barry 289 305 594 +18
16 Central Oklahoma 299 303 602 +26
