BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Head coach Greg Allen and three of his Vanderbilt women’s golf standouts earned Southeastern Conference postseason recognition, the league office announced today.
Allen, in his 11th year at the helm of the Commodore program, was voted SEC Coach of the Year by fellow conference head coaches.
Three Florida natives on the Vanderbilt team – junior Abbey Carlson from Lake Mary, senior Courtney Zeng from Orlando and freshman Auston Kim from St. Augustine – garnered All-SEC attention by the coaches. Carlson and Kim were named First Team All-SEC while Zeng earned Second Team All-SEC. Kim also was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Allen and his Vanderbilt student-athletes are coming off a winning performance at the NCAA Auburn Regional earlier this week. The Commodores claimed their first regional victory since 2014 in impressive fashion at Saugahatchee Country Club in Opelika, Alabama, coming from behind in the final round to notch a three-stroke win against a field of 17 teams.
For Allen, one of the nation’s most successful mentors, this marks his first conference coach of the year honor. It comes in his 19th year as a head coach.
Allen also becomes the second Vanderbilt women’s golf coach to claim the conference honor. The only other Commodore coach to be recognized was Martha Freitag, who earned the award in 2003 and 2004.
Carlson earned All-SEC honors for the second consecutive year after putting together the finest campaign of her Vanderbilt career. She has nine top-25 individual finishes in 11 tournaments, including an individual victory at the Mason Rudolph Championships in September and fifth-place results at the Clemson Invitational and Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational. Carlson’s 71.91 stroke average ranks fourth in the conference.
Carlson also has been named to the United States squad for the upcoming Arnold Palmer Cup, a prestigious international competition scheduled this June in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Kim has been sensational in her first year at Vanderbilt. In addition to the NCAA regional victory, Kim has six top-10 individual finishes, including runner-up results at the UCF Challenge and Reynolds Lake Oconee Invitational, and third-place efforts at Cougar Classic and Clemson Invitational. Her 71.84 stroke average ranks third in the SEC.
Two weeks ago, Kim also qualified for the United States Women’s Open with a second-place finish while participating in a sectional in Oregon.
Zeng has six top-25 individual finishes in her final year with the Commodores. Zeng’s top performances include a runner-up result at the Cougar Class, third-place finish at the Clemson Invitational and fifth-place result at the UCF Challenge.
Carlson also was named as Vanderbilt’s representative to the SEC Community Service Team.
The Commodores will be back in action May 17 at the NCAA Championships, scheduled at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. It will mark the program’s 10th appearance at the national championship.
