A lot of things can change in five years.

If you compare the scorecards for the Anderson Trojans at the South Regional five years ago with the card from this week, the change is jaw dropping.

Five years ago the Trojans, playing in their first regional, finished way back. Way way back, 50 shots behind the top qualifier.

Rip a few years off the calendar and this year the Trojans topped the field by 30 shots to advance to the national championship. If you are doing the math it is an 80 shot difference,

“We are definitely a lot better than the first time we came here,” said Trojan coach Denton Moore, with a chuckle. “A lot of the teams we beat this year are the ones that beat us back then,” said Moore.

Keep in mind winning the Region is great, but the first goal of every team is to be in the top-five to advance to the national championship. Anderson finished in front of perennial DII powers Lynn, Flagler, Lee and Nova Southeastern

In addition to the impressive team win, Kennedy Magaha did about the same thing to the competition for medalist honors in the Regional.

“Kennedy has been playing great, but she was really on her game this week. This isn’t an easy golf course and she shot 12-under par and beat everybody by 9 shots,” said Moore.

The Trojan junior, from near by Belton, shot rounds of 68 each day for a 204 total.

“The first four holes on this course are the toughest. She played them at 2-under par. Kennedy only made two bogeys in the tournament. It was almost like she was playing a different golf course than everyone else,” said Moore.

Rankings don’t mean anything now that teams are in post-season play, but the Trojans moved up from number 6 in the country to third,

“The teams in front of us are great. Dallas Baptist and Flagler are always way up in the rankings. We know if we want to win we are going to have to beat some great teams,” said Moore.

Five years ago in their first trip to a Regional not much was expected,

Last year the Trojans were highiy ranked, but played what Moore believes was their worst round in five years to miss a chance at the finals.

Coming home from Tennessee Moore noted that his team was pretty happy with their performance and let it show. Moore wants to make sure the team understands what is ahead of them, but he doesn’t mind they may be just a little cocky going into the finals.

“A little bit isn’t bad. They played great and are capable of playing that way in the finalds. I don’t think it is a bad thing they have that kind of confidence,” added the Trojans coach.

During the next eight days, Anderson will get in some practice and get over their big win in order to get ready for the next challenge.

“We have a very good team that is playing well. I know we learned something from last year and I know we have a mature team that will be ready ,” concluded Moore.

The NCAA DII Finals are on May 21 – May 25th at the Orange County Golf Center near Orlando. Scores can be followed on http://www.golfstat.com.

Scores from the S-SE Super Regional https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=29167