CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- Firing three of the first six under-par rounds that the Anderson University women's golf team have ever fired at the NCAA Regional Tournament, junior Kennedy McGaha (Honea Path, S.C.) matched her opening two round scores with a 68 (-4) in the final round the NCAA South Regional to take home individual medalist honors and lead the Trojans to their first ever regional championship on Wednesday, May 8 at Cleveland Country Club. All six of the Trojans under-par rounds were shot throughout the week.
"I am not sure I can find the words for this performance, I'm so proud of this crew," said head coach Denton Moore. "This is the first time in program history we have won the NCAA South Regional and it is definitely the biggest win in history of the AU golf program. I remember being here for the first time five years ago and losing by about 60, and now here we are five years later winning by 19! This program has come a long way in a very short period of time."
The Trojans finished atop the leaderboard as a team by 19 strokes, claiming a three day total of 856 (-8), the programs best ever score after 54 holes by three strokes. Lynn finished second at +11 while Flagler, Lee and Nova Southeastern will joining the Black and Gold at the National Championship.
McGaha's three rounds of 68 were the lowest recorded by a Trojan at the NCAA Regional with two rounds of 71 from sophomore Kennedy Gooding (Lexington, S.C.) and senior Jessica Rathbone (Montpelier, Va.) with one round of 71 this week recording all six under-par performances for Anderson at a regional. McGaha finished -12 on the week and took home the top spot on the individual leaderboard by nine strokes over the second place finishers.
"The entire week leading up, Austin and I tried not to talk about Cleveland CC at all. It is a place that has not been good to us and we have had some players really struggle here in the past. We tried to emphasize to forget anything we have done here in the past and go in fresh. So, I guess Kennedy McGaha was listening! She hates Cleveland CC, and now she walks out with her second individual title of the year and this one is the biggest in program history with ease. To dominate the way she did was truly special and this performance should easily land her on the All-American First-Team."
Gooding fired her second under par round of the week, wrapping up the event with a 71 to finish in a tie for fourth on the individual side while Rathbone wrapped up the week with a 74, finishing in a tie for 10th in the field. Sophomore Aly Francis (Stockbridge, Ga.) continued to improve each round throughout the week as she carded a final round of 72 to finish the tournament tied for 29th. Junior Zoey Iglesias (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) recorded 15 pars in her final round of action on the week, finishing tied for 39th.
"KMac couldn't do it by herself though. KG played the best tournament of her career in my opinion. I know she has won before, twice actually, but she was so good this week. Incredible top-5 performance. She was just as steady as KMac honestly, KMac just made a few more birdies, they ranked 1st and 2nd in pars this week. Jess was really special this week as she was her usual All-American GOAT-self. She just kept turning in great performance after great performance and got a huge top-10 finish. Aly and Zoey were so special this week. They combined over the three days to bring this home. Zoey was great on day one and Aly was so big the last two days. I really just can't say enough about all of them."
"Last, I just can't imagine doing this without Austin Castles. That guy has brought a different gear to the program. He is an outstanding coach, and we are so lucky to have him. He out coached so many coaches out there this week and the holes he were on with the girls this week were special. I hope Cheese is here with me for a very long time. We are going to get home, rest, take a couple days off, and then we will start prep for the National Championship! We have about two weeks to prep and get ready. But, for now, we are going to enjoy this one and celebrate Mother's Day this weekend! So proud of this crew and so thankful for all of them. Go Trojans!"
The Trojans punched their ticket to the National Championship with their finish and will head to Winter Garden, Fla. from May 21-25 as they continue their trek for a national championship at the Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge.
