MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. – With Trojans occupying five of the top eight spots, including the top three slots, the Anderson women's golf team is in first place following the first two rounds of Limestone's Low Tide Intercollegiate, Monday at the 6,100 yard, par-72 Dunes West Golf and River Club.
"I am really excited about today's play," said Anderson Head Women's Coach Denton Moore. "We talked so much about the wind last week in Florida, and how we didn't handle it very well in the second round. I stressed to the girls how important it was to get off to a good start this week when the wind was down, because we knew it was going to crank up to 15-20 mph in the afternoon and make it very difficult. We shot an opening round 2-under which was great. Everyone really played well and executed the game plan to perfection. Then the wind kicked up. They shot 2-over as a unit in the second round, and to be honest, it was very impressive. It was better than the opening round. They handled the wind much better, and closed out the day extremely strong."
The fifth-ranked Trojans hold a commanding 17-stroke lead over second-place Limestone, with No. 47 West Georgia seven strokes further back in third place. Carson-Newman is in fourth place , with North Georgia holding the fifth spot heading into Tuesday's final round. No. 16 Lander and 33rd-ranked Montevallo share sixth place, while Columbus State is eighth. UNC Pembroke and Newberry are ninth and 10th, respectively, with Erskine in 11th place.
Coker, Lenoir-Rhyne, Catawba, Tusculum and Davenport rounded out the 16-team field.
While playing as an individual, freshman Kennedy Gooding parlayed 14 birdies into a school-record 135 for 36 holes, while matching the school record with her second round, 6-under 66. The Lexington native leads teammate Jessica Rathbone by seven strokes heading into Tuesday's final round. Rathbone carded six birdies during Monday's second round and is in second place in the chase for individual medalist honors. Sophomore Kennedy McGaha is alone in third place and trails Rathbone by just one shot.
Four golfers, including freshman Paige Paolucci, are tied for fourth place – 10 shots behind Gooding. Sophomore Zoey Iglesias is tied for eighth place, while grad student Kerington Lamb and senior Emma Charles, along with freshman Aly Francis are among a 10-way logjam for 21st place.
"Jessica Rathbone and Kennedy McGaha are in second and third place, and just really played solid golf," added Moore. "They did as they always do, what you expect from All-Americans. I can't stress how proud I am of Paige Paolucci. She is in her second straight tournament in the lineup and has been rock solid. She is just so consistent. Zoey Iglesias is back in the lineup this week and she closed out both rounds so well. Really proud of her today. She had a couple hiccups that could have gotten away from her, but she bounced right back, and is in a solid position to top-10 the event. Kerington Lamb was great today in the second round when we absolutely had to have her. She closed strong, and did what you would expect a fifth-year senior to do. She is just a great calming presence out there for our team, and more importantly me! Emma Charles and Aly Francis played solid golf today. Emma was awesome in the first round, and Aly really closed out round two well. Proud of the way they played in the individual spots. I had to save the best for last. Kennedy Gooding has been working so hard. I'm not even sure of the last time she took a day off. She is such a competitor. She has been so close in tournaments, qualifying and everywhere. Just couldn't quite piece it all together this spring so far. But, no worries, she did that today! She had 14 birdies on 36 holes, a program record 66 in the second round and she is -9 and leading the tournament as an individual. I am so proud of her, and all the work she has put in, as has this entire team. We are seeing the fruits of that labor this week. Tomorrow is a big day. We are in great position. I left the girls with one message tonight, we are not going out there to cruise tomorrow. I want them to close out like champions and win with authority. We have a chance for our third win tomorrow, and I want them to do it making a statement."
The final round of the two-day, 54-hole tournament is slated to get underway, Tuesday morning.
Notables
• Four Trojans stood at the top of the individual leaderboard following the first round (McGaha and Gooding/T-1st, Charles/3rd, Paolucci/4th)
• Gooding's second-round 66 matched the school record for low round, which was previously set by Lamb at the 2022 Lady Moc Classic.
• Gooding's two-round 135 marked a program record for 36 holes.
• Rathbone's two-round 142 matched the ninth-lowest 36-hole score in program history.
• McGaha and Gooding's first-round 69s matched the ninth-lowest rounds in school history.
• The Trojans' first-round 286 marked the fourth-lowest round in program history.
• AU's second-round 290 matched the 13th -lowest round in program history.
• Rathbone's second-round 69 also matched the ninth-lowest round in school history.
1 Anderson 286 290 576
1 Kennedy Gooding 69 66 135
2 Jessica Rathbone (5) 73 69 142
3 Kennedy McGaha (1) 69 74 143
T4 Paige Paolucci (4) 71 74 145
T8 Zoey Iglesias (3) 73 73 146
T21 Kerington Lamb (2) 77 74 151
T21 Aly Francis 77 74 151
T21 Emma Charles 70 81 151
Teams Scores
1 Anderson 286 290 576 E
2 Limestone 296 297 593 +17
3 West Georgia 308 292 600 +24
4 Carson-Newman 305 297 602 +26
5 North Georgia 303 300 603 +27
T6 Lander 301 307 608 +32
T6 Montevallo 306 302 608 +32
8 Columbus State304 308 612 +36
9 UNC Pembroke 302 313 615 +39
10 Newberry 316 308 624 +48
11 Erskine 320 306 626 +50
12 Coker 314 315 629 +53
13 Lenoir-Rhyne 316 314 630 +54
14 Catawba 316 321 637 +61
15 Tusculum 325 318 643 +67
16 Davenport 336 321 657 +81
