COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina head women's golf coach Kalen Anderson has been named SEC Coach of the Year, the league announced Wednesday as part of its rollout of annual awards for women's golf.
This is the fourth time Anderson ahs earned this honor and it comes after her team secure four victories in a very challenging schedule which Anderson hopes has her team ready to make a deep run in the NCAA Championship.
The Gamecocks will open play at the Auburn Regional next Monday as a No, 1 seed, it's fourth consecutive year of securing a No. 1 seed for regionals, Carolina is looking for the program’s 21st trip to the NCAA Championship, 14 of which have come in Anderson’s tenure.
Four Gamecocks earned All-SEC honors, which ties a program record set in 2022.
Junior All-Americans Hannah Darling and Louise Rydqvist were named First Team All-SEC as Carolina was the only program in the league to have multiple players on the first team. Sophomore Mia Sandtorv Lussand and freshman Vairana Heck were named Second Team All-SEC with Heck also earning a spot on the SEC All-Freshman squad.
This is the third time Darling has been named First Team All-SEC joining Gamecock Hall of Famers Kristy McPherson (2001, 2002, 2003) and Siew Ai Lim (1994, 1995, 1996) as the only players in program history to accomplish the feat. Darling, who is ranked No. 19 in the latest Clippd Player Rankings and No. 17 in the latest World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), has a career scoring average of 72.00, the lowest in program history.
Rydqvist collects All-SEC honors for the second time in her career with her first appearance on the first team. She is ranked No. 10 in the latest Clippd Player Rankings and No. 42 in the latest World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).
Both Darling and Rydqvist made the cut at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in April and were recently selected to represent Team International in the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup this summer.