ANDERSON, S.C. -- Anderson's women's golf team travels to Monroe, N.C. next week (March 11-12) to compete at the Jerry Surratt Memorial hosted at the Stonebridge Golf Club. The tournament will consist of 36 holes on Monday, followed by 18 on Tuesday, and live stats will be posted here.
"Coach Castles and I are really excited to get back to work with the girls," said head coach Denton Moore. "We are coming off one of our best rounds of the season in Lakeland, and I wish we could have played quicker to ride that momentum. The girls are having another historical year, and we really want to continue that in Monroe this week."
The No. 4 Trojans are joined in the field by No. 3 Findlay, No. 17 Lander, No. 20 Wingate, Lincoln Memorial, North Georgia, West Georgia, Lenoir-Rhyne, Carson-Newman, Newberry, Catawba, Coker, Belmont Abbey, Mount Olive and Barton.
"The field in Monroe is a good one. We will see one of our biggest rivals Findlay, who is the #3 ranked team in the country. Lander, Wingate, and LMU are the other Top 25 teams there. We will have another great chance to showcase our talents against some of the best teams in the country."
The lineup for the Black and Gold is comprised of five Top-50 nationally ranked players: No. 7 Kennedy McGaha (Honea Path, S.C.), No. 38 Zoey Iglesias (Port St. Lucie, Fla.), No. 42 Kennedy Gooding (Lexington, S.C.), No. 48 Aly Francis (Stockbridge, Ga.) and No. 49 Jessica Rathbone (Montpelier, Va.).
"The starting lineup this week is Jess, K Mac, KG, Zoey, and Aly. We also have Vette and P going as individuals. This team is legit 7 deep, and the lineup has changed almost continuously throughout the year. We will look to continue the success this week with this lineup. All 5 in the starting 5 are ranked individually Top 50 in the country."
Sophomore Paige Paolucci (Blythewood, S.C.) and freshman Yvette Gorden (Montgomery, Ala.) will also be representing Anderson, competing as individuals.
AU travels to North Carolina coming off a 2nd-place finish at the Lady Moc Classic in Florida last month. Of six competitions during the 2023-24 season, the Trojans have claimed three tournament championships and three runner-up finishes.
"I am really proud of all the work this crew has put in. They are as focused and prepared as I have ever seen them. I am really looking forward to getting back into action with them. It feels like Lakeland was forever ago now, but we are ready for the postseason run now. The next few months are huge for this group, and hopefully all the hard work will have us right where we want to be in Winter Garden, Florida playing for the National Championship! Go Trojans!"
Anderson is back on the road next week (March 18-19) to compete in the Findlay Spring Invite in Richmond, Ky.
