ROCK HILL, S.C. – On the eve of the South Atlantic Conference Women's Golf Championship, a program-record six Anderson University golfers have earned all-conference honors, while Head Coach Denton Moore was named SAC Coach of the Year, as announced by the league office, Friday morning.
In addition, junior Jessica Rathbone was named SAC Golfer of the Year, while newcomer Kennedy Gooding brought home Freshman of the Year accolades.
Rathbone, the reigning SAC Tournament titleholder and two-time All-America selection, earned First-Team All-SAC recognition for the third straight season.
The Montpelier, Va., native, owns or has matched five of the top-10 single-round scores in program history and she paces an extraordinarily-balanced Trojan squad with a 73.50 adjusted stroke average after recording a season-low 4-under 68 in the final round of the season-opening DBU Classic and firing a 3-under 69 on two occasions. Rathbone won the City with Spirit Classic, while notching seven top-15 finishes, including three in the top-4. She was named SAC Golfer of the Week in early October and didn't finish lower than 25th in any tourney, while entering the postseason ranked 27th nationally by Golfstat.
Gooding is the second straight and fifth overall AU women's golfer to claim SAC Freshman of The Year honors, following in the footsteps of standouts Kennedy McGaha (2022), Anna Freeman (2018), Kate Hill (2017) and Katie Eskew (2011).
The Lexington native, who is ranked 64th nationally by Golfstat and is fourth on the team with a 74.54 adjusted stroke average, captured SAC Golfer of the Week accolades in early March after winning the Low Tide Intercollegiate by equaling the school record with a 6-under-par 66 in the second round. She wrapped up the tourney by setting the school record with a three-round 203 in Mt. Pleasant. Gooding also finished third at the Findlay Spring Invite and posted six finishes inside the top-31.
Sophomore Zoey Iglesias also earned First-Team All-SAC recognition after collecting Third-Team honors a year ago. She is tabbed 46th nationally by Golfstat and owns a 74.46 adjusted stroke average after notching seven top-20 finishes this year, including a pair of top-5 finishes and a runner-up performance earlier this week at the Lady Bearcat Classic. She fired a season-low 3-under 69 in the second round of the St. Leo Invitational and twice matched the 10th-best three-round score in program history with a 216 at the St. Leo Invitational and at the Lady Bearcat Classic.
Sophomore Kennedy McGaha collected First-Team All-SAC recognition after being named SAC Freshman of the Year and garnering Second-Team All-America honors a year ago. The Honea Path native is the highest-ranked Trojan by Golfstat (17th) and owns a 73.96 adjusted stroke average after notching a pair of runner-up finishes – at the LeeAnn Memorial and the Findlay Spring Invite – while recording five top-11 finishes, including four in the top three.
She carded the third-lowest three-round score in program history with a 211 at the St. Leo Invitational and the fifth-best score in school history with a 214 at the DBU Classic, while finished lower than 25th just three times in eight tournaments. McGaha posted a season-low 5-under 67 in the second round of St. Leo Invitational, while firing a 3-under 69 on three occasions.
Grad student Kerington Lamb, a native of Easley, owns a 74.87 adjusted stroke average and is currently ranked 35th nationally by Golfstat. She shares the single-round school record with her 66 in the third round of last year's Lady Moc Classic, while carding a season-low 3-under 69 in the second round of this year's St. Leo Invitational and also in the third round of this year's Lady Moc Classic, while posting six top-20 finishes on the year.
Freshman Paige Paolucci was named Third-Team All-SAC after posting a 74.91 adjusted stroke average and being ranked 57th by Golfstat. She finished as runner-up to Gooding at the Low Tide Intercollegiate by matching the 10th-best three-round score in program history with a 216 in Mt. Pleasant and matched the third-lowest round in school history by firing a 5-under 67 in the final round of the St Leo Invitational. The Blythewood native finished no lower than 33rd over five tournaments, while sharing fifth place at the Lady Bearcat Invitational.
Following a year that included five first-place finishes and a runner-up performance among some of the toughest fields in the nation, Moore's Trojans are ranked fifth in the nation and are looking to earn their second straight SAC Championship and third SAC title in four seasons next week.
The 2023 SAC Women's Golf Championship will be hosted by the Trojans, Sunday – Tuesday, at Cobb's Glen Country Club in Anderson.
2023 SAC WOMEN'S GOLF ALL-CONFERENCE
First Team All-Conference
Kennedy Gooding, Anderson
Zoey Iglesias, Anderson
Kennedy McGaha, Anderson
Hailey McLaughlin, Wingate
Jessica Rathbone, Anderson
Second Team All-Conference
Jess Brown, Wingate
Maeve Cummins, Carson-Newman
Kerington Lamb, Anderson
Sarah Mardani, Limestone
Maria Morales, Limestone
Third Team All-Conference
Beatriz Espelosin, Lenoir-Rhyne
Mary Ma, Wingate
Paige Paolucci, Anderson
Amelia Rae Greenlee, Lenoir-Rhyne
Lisa Sevenius, Limestone
Freshman of the Year
Kennedy Gooding, Anderson
Golfer of the Year
Jessica Rathbone, Anderson
Coach of the Year
Denton Moore, Anderson
