ANDERSON, S.C.--Anderson's Head Golf Coaches Denton Moore and Daniel Coker have announced the upcoming spring slates for the men and women's teams.
Men's Golf
The spring campaign marks the first at the helm for Coker, who assumed his role last summer. "After a restful break, we are very excited to get our spring semester kicked off in Okatie at Oldfield Club on Feb. 23-24," said Coker. "We know that we have the talent to make a run at the postseason this spring and look forward to getting back to work here shortly."
Coker's squad will open the season with two tournaments local to South Carolina—the Oldfield Classic hosted by USC Beaufort in Okatie on Feb. 23-24 and the Bearcat Classic hosted by Lander in Greendwood on March 16-17. Lander's tournament is a staple for the Trojans, being a constant on the schedule since 2018, while this will be the first time Anderson plays in USCB's home tournament.
The Trojans will then make the trip to North Carolina for Wingate's Ralph Hargett Memorial in Monroe on March 23-24, before traveling to Tennessee for the River Rumble hosted by Lincoln Memorial in Lenoir City on March 23-24. Anderson earned their second-best finish of the season last year at the Ralph Hargett Memorial, landing fifth as a team with three Trojans finishing Top-20. They then rounded out the regular season at the River Rumble, finishing 7th of 20 teams.
This year's South Atlantic Conference Championships will again be played at The Preserve at Verdae in Greenville. Competition will take place April 19-21.
Women's Golf
The No. 3 Trojans look to continue their streak of deep post-season success this spring, building off the momentum they developed in the fall—AU won their final two tournaments of the fall season and finished as runner-up the week before. The three competitions also included two Anderson individual wins—Olivia Pellerin at the LeeAnn noble Memorial and Claudia Hastings at the Saint Leo Invitational.
"We are very excited about this upcoming spring schedule," said Moore. "This past fall got off to a bit of a shaky start, but the girls closed extremely strong finishing 2nd, 1st, 1st in their last 3 events to close out the fall season in the Top-5 nationally. I really like the momentum we are carrying into the spring season. We will need that momentum as we are playing one of the toughest schedules in the country this spring."
The Black and Gold open 2026 in Lakeland, Fla. at Florida Southern's Lady Moc Classic on Feb. 23-24. The Trojans will then open March in Monroe, N.C. for Wingate's Jerry Surratt Memorial on March 9-10.
"We will start at one of the toughest tournaments of the year with the Lady Moc Classic in Lakeland, Fla. This event annually hosts the best teams in the country in D2 golf. We will then go to Wingate's event in Monroe, NC. This event is usually a middle-of-the-road field. This year, however, all five teams ranked in the Top-5 nationally will be there, and I believe 12 of the 18 teams are ranked in the Top-25. So our first two events will be a really good barometer of where we are as we look towards the end of the season and the postseason."
Anderson will continue the spring with their debut showing at a Dallas Baptist event, traveling to Carmel, Calif. for the DBU Patriot Invitational on March 16-17. The regular season concludes with AU hosting a tournament of their own—the Grand Harbor Classic at The Patriot at Grand Harbor in Ninety, Six, S.C. on March 30-31.
"We have a really cool trip this year to Carmel, Calif. to play in an event that No. 1 DBU hosts. It will be a great test to switch time zones, change altitudes, and see the #1 team in the country all at the same time. We will finish the spring regular season with a new event we are co-hosting with Erskine in Ninety-Six, S.C. at The Patriot at Grand Harbor. This event will be very top heavy with seven teams ranked inside the Top-15 nationally. So our schedule is pretty daunting, but this crew and K Mac and I are looking forward to the challenge."
The SAC Championships will take place April 12-14 at The Preserve at Verdae in Greenville, followed by the NCAA South/Southeast Regional Tournament May 4-6 and NCAA National Tournament May 12-16.
"We are coming back with some players who have had some really special fall seasons. Anderson is the only team in the country to return five players in the spring ranked inside the Top-40 individually in the country. Olivia Pellerin got her first collegiate win of her career as a sophomore. She also finished 21st or better in all five events for us in the fall with three Top-10 finishes and finished as the 5th ranked player in the country.
Olivia Roberts had a super special fall as a freshman. Roberts is the 8th ranked player in the country. She played in four of our five events this fall, missing the 5th event due to an injury. She finished the fall season in the Top-16 in each event, with three Top-10 finishes including a runner up and a third-place finish. She is the highest ranked freshman in the country.
Claudia Hastings has been a phenomenal addition to our team, transferring in from Limestone. She is having the best season of her career and currently is the 12th ranked player in the country. She got her first win as a Trojan down in Florida at a huge event hosted by St. Leo. She also had three Top-10 finishes to go along with that win as she played in all five events for us this fall.
Aly Francis and Kennedy Gooding are ranked 37th and 39th nationally. They both had great fall seasons and are exactly what you want from senior leaders. Aly had two Top-10 finishes, and KG had four consecutive Top-13 finishes with two Top-10 finishes to end the fall.
We also have Paige Paolucci who was absolutely massive in our Final 4. She has a wealth of experience, and I expect her to have a great spring. Lillian McDermott, Peyton O'Brien, and Josey Sweat have all played in the fall, and all showed massive amounts of improvement throughout the season.
I truly expect this team to come back ready in January to make another deep postseason run. If this team can peak at the right time, they are as good as anyone in the country, and arguably deeper than any team in the country. We are super blessed with this crew, and we can't wait to get them back and get to work! Go Trojans!"
