SALISBURY, N.C. – For the third straight year the Anderson University women's golf team stands alone atop the leaderboard at the end of the third day of action as they took home the team title at the 2024 South Atlantic Conference women's golf championships at the Country Club of Salisbury.
"I'm proud of this crew after the SAC Championships," said head women's golf coach Denton Moore. "We have been playing in national events and finishing top 2-3 all over the southeast. I think a lot of people look at that as struggling. It's hard to win in golf. This was a solid reminder who the best team in the SAC is. We chose to play some of the best teams in the country throughout the season and people questioned whether we were ready to win again this year. We left Salisbury with no doubt."
The Trojans completed the three-peat with a commanding 24-shot victory. Anderson's 879 bested Limestone's 903 in the three-day tournament. Sophomore Aly Francis (Stockbridge, Ga.) finished one-shot out of the medalist position, taking home second at six-over for the tournament. Her second-place finish earned her First-Team All-Tournament honors along with senior Jessica Rathbone (Montpelier, Va.) and junior Kennedy McGaha (Honea Path, S.C.), both of whom finished tied for fifth in the tournament at nine-over.
"This is our third SAC Championship in a row and our fourth in the last five years. We are seven deep in this roster and all seven girls contributed to this win. They push each other all year and that inner competition leads to excellence in tournament play. I am so proud of Aly this week. That girl, she has been rolling since the third event of the season and has had a career year. Runner-up finish here is fantastic and I'm really excited about this postseason with her coming up. KG, K Mac, and Jess all made the All-Tournament team and they all played rock solid golf for three days. Zoey was awesome the first two days as well and was a massive part of this win as well."
Sophomore Kennedy Gooding (Lexington, S.C.) was the lone member of the Second-Team All-Tournament, due to ties for fifth, as she finished 10th in the tournament at +10 for the week. Junior Zoey Iglesias (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) finished just one stroke out of the honor as she finished 11th in the tournament at +11.
"This was a brutal setup at the course. It was one of the hardest setups we have played all year. The course was firm and fast, and there were some really difficult pin placements. The girls really did a great job of sticking to the plan, and really hitting it where we had to. We hit a lot of shots 25-30 feet from the hole on purpose and took pars a lot this week. That was the difference, we saw many mistakes around us and we just managed our games to avoid big mistakes. It's not always fun to play golf like that but this week it was the difference in getting a blowout win. I am just so pleased with the amount of discipline the girl showed and it paid off with a win."
With the win, the Trojans now secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA South Regional on May 6-8 at Cleveland Country Club in Cleveland, Tenn.
"I'm so thankful for Austin Castles! That guy helps keep me balanced and does a great job managing the girls out there. He is just so key in helping us get the game plan set up for the week. Each night we talked about pin locations, where to hit the ball off the tee, and how to manage the girls, and then met with them the next morning. He is an amazing coach and we are so lucky to have him. This is our first SAC Championship together, but it won't be the last! We will take a couple days off to recharge the batteries and let the bodies heal. We've earned a much deserved break. But then we will turn our attention to Cleveland and the NCAA Regional. Go Trojans!"
