ANDERSON, S.C. -- The Trojan women's golf team will travel to Lakeland, Fla. next week (Feb. 19-20) to compete in the Lady Moc Golf Classic held at Grasslands Country Club.
No. 8 Anderson will be joined in the field by ten Top-25 teams, five of which sit in the Top-10: No. 1 Nova Southeastern, No. 2 Rollins, No. 7 Flagler, No. 10 Lynn, No. 14 St Leo, No. 18 Limestone, No. 22 North Georgia, No. 23 Tampa and No. 25 Florida Southern.
"I love this golf course, and most of our players do as well," said head coach Denton Moore. "It is always in great shape, and we are playing in Florida in February, which is always a huge bonus."
Representing the Trojans will be three-time All-American Jessica Rathbone (Montpelier, Va.), two-time All-American Kennedy McGaha (Honea Path, S.C.), reigning South Atlantic Conference Freshman of the Year Kennedy Gooding (Lexington, S.C.), sophomore Aly Francis (Stockbridge, Ga.) and sophomore Paige Paolucci.
Junior Zoey Iglesias (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) and freshman Yvette Gorden (Montgomery, Ala.) will also be competing as individuals.
"I am very excited to take our squad down to Orlando and test ourselves against some of the best in the country," said Moore. "This is a great way to see where we stack up as we get ready to make a run at the NCAA Tournament and the postseason."
In individual national rankings, the Trojans sit with McGaha at No. 9, Gooding at No. 39, Iglesias at No. 41, Franics at No. 48, Paolucci at No. 66, Rathbone at No. 72 and Gorden at no. 272. AU is the only school in the country with six players ranked in the Top-100.
"This team is very special, and absolutely loaded with fantastic players," said Moore. "I can't wait to go to war with them this spring and get this spring season going!"
The Trojans enter the spring eager to build off an impressive fall campaign—of five tournaments, AU claimed three first-place and two second-place finishes.
"There is no better place to start than a national field like this to find out where we are," said Moore. "These girls have worked super hard and have prepared to their absolute best ability. We are looking forward to a great spring!"
Anderson aims to continue their streak of success this spring, looking to claim a fifth-consecutive NCAA South Region Championship appearance and third-straight NCAA National Championships berth.
