LAKELAND, Fla. – Paced by junior Jessica Rathbone's 2-over-par, two round 146, the Anderson women's golf team is in fifth place following opening-day action at the 2023 Lady Moc Classic.
Featuring five of the top-10 squads in the nation and 13 of the top-50 teams from across the country, the two-day, 54-hole tournament is being hosted by Florida Southern at the par-72, 6,105 yard Grasslands Golf and Country Club.
"Really tough day today," said Anderson Head Women's Coach Denton Moore. "We started really slow, but then closed strong in the first round. We were in second place and I felt really good about where we were. Then the wind picked up pretty strong and the conditions got extremely tough. But they were tough for everyone. They are definitely winds we don't see much of. We almost never see 15-20 mph winds other than when we are down here in Florida. That said, we have to handle it a little better. I need to handle it better. I miss clubbed what felt like a thousand times today. We played our worst round of the year in the second round, and we are still in fifth with a chance to finish top three in the best field we will see all year."
Nationally second-ranked Lynn leads No. 4 Nova Southeastern by four shots behind a tournament record 13-under-par opening round, with the host Lady Mocs tied for third place, alongside West Florida. Anderson trails Florida Southern and West Florida by a pair of strokes, while Flagler and Rollins are sixth and seventh, respectively. No. 13 Limestone is eighth, with eighth-ranked Tampa in the ninth slot.
Columbus State and North Georgia are 10th and 11th, respectively, while Embry-Riddle and Eckerd are deadlocked in 12th place. Barry, St. Leo, Palm Beach Atlantic, Western New Mexico and Ashland round out the 18-team field.
Lynn's Maria Hoyos (66-71-137) leads teammate Sara Ericsson by three shots in the chase for individual honors, while West Florida's Alia Scotka, Florida Southern's Loren Perez and Lynn's Camila Madariaga are all three two shots further back and share third place.
Rathbone is in a four-way tie for 10th place entering Tuesday's final round, while sophomore Zoey Iglesias, who is competing this week as an individual, is one shot further back in a tie for 14th place. Freshman Paige Paolucci shares 24th place, while grad student Kerington Lamb is tied for 31st place. Sophomore Kennedy McGaha is in a 12-way logjam for 35th place, with freshman Kennedy Gooding in a tie for 53rd place.
Senior Emma Charles, who is also playing as an individual, eagled the par-5 fourth hole and is tied for 59th place, while freshman Aly Francis rounded out the Trojan contingent in a tie for 66th place.
"All things considered, I'm very proud of the way the girls gutted that second round out," added Moore. "It could have gotten away from us worse, so very thankful for that. We will regroup tomorrow, and go give our best effort to try and move up into the top three. Jessica Rathbone was really solid today. She had a great first round, and gutted out a solid second round. Really proud of Paige Paolucci today. She was really good on a huge stage for her first time in the lineup. Kerington (Lamb), Kennedy McGaha, and Aly (Francis) all grinded that second round to keep us from really slipping down the leaderboard. Again, really proud of the attitudes today. They did not give up, on a day that it was easy to do so. Zoey Iglesias was really strong today as an individual for us. Outstanding first round with 71. Emma Charles and Kennedy Gooding both put together solid second rounds in the worst conditions. I am excited to get back out there with all of them tomorrow and see if we can't climb that leaderboard."
The second and final round is slated to get underway Tuesday morning.
Notables
• Rathbone's first-round 2-under 70 matched her third-lowest round of the year.
• Iglesias' first-round 71 matched her second-lowest round of the year.
• Paolucci's opening-round 74 marked her second-lowest round of the year.
5 Anderson 292 305 597
T10 Jessica Rathbone 70 76 146
T14 Zoey Iglesias 71 76 147
T24 Paige Paolucci 74 76 150
T30 Kerington Lamb 73 78 151
T35 Kennedy McGaha 75 77 152
T53 Kennedy Gooding 77 77 154
T60 Emma Charles 80 75 155
T66 Aly Francis 81 76 157
Teams Scores
1 Lynn 275 288 563 -13
2 Nova SE 295 291 586 +10
T3 Florida Southern 292 303 595 +19
T3 West Florida 292 303 595 +19
5 Anderson 292 305 597 +21
6 Flagler 297 301 598 +22
7 Rollins 302 300 602 +26
8 Limestone 302 301 603 +27
9 Tampa 303 301 604 +28
10 Columbus State 304 303 607 +31
11 North Georgia 299 311 610 +34
T12 Embry-Riddle 305 309 614 +38
T12 Eckerd 296 318 614 +38
14 Barry 305 310 615 +39
15 Saint Leo 310 309 619 +43
16 Palm Beach Atl. 311 309 620 +44
17 Western N.M. 309 329 638 +62
18 Ashland 320 343 663 +87
