BELLEAIR, Fla. – Veterans Lynn Lim and Ava Merrill led Vanderbilt women’s golf to a 4-under-par 276 in Friday’s opening round of the SEC Championship at Pelican Golf Club. The Commodores sit atop a tightly packed leaderboard alongside Texas A&M through 18 holes.
Vanderbilt began on the challenging back nine of Pelican Golf Club Friday morning. After a 2-over start through the first four holes, the Commodores reeled off five birdies across No. 14 and No. 15 to move into the red. Vandy would close the back nine at 4-under and moved to 8-under as all four scorers birdied the first. The Dores finished the front side of Pelican at par to card their 4-under opening round.
“It’s nice to get off to a good start at Pelican Golf Club, something we have struggled with the first two years here,” said head coach Greg Allen. “But we know the level of competition we’re up against, so we need to come back out tomorrow and lock in again.
“I’m proud of the start we got off to this morning because the back nine hasn’t been good to us in the past. Everyone looked in control of their game and never got frustrated if a shot or hole didn’t go the way they wanted.”
Lim and Merrill each carded rounds of 2-under 68 to sit tied for seventh individually. Both Dores holed five birdies apiece in their first circuit around the par-70 Pelican Golf Club. Angelina Tolentino and Sara Im each finished at even par to help Vanderbilt to the day one co-lead. Im notched four birdies while Tolentino added three. Freshman Elizabeth Rudisill finished her first SEC Championship round with a 4-over 74.
“Lynn and Ava have been playing at a very high level lately so it’s nice to see them right there in contention individually,” Allen stated. “But the most important thing is we stay in the moment the next two days and keep doing why we’re doing.”
Just four strokes separate the frontrunning Commodores and Aggies from Mississippi State and Oklahoma in a tie for seventh. The top eight teams following the conclusion of stroke play on Sunday will advance to match play. The Commodores are one stroke ahead of Florida, Texas and Ole Miss and two shots clear of Arkansas in sixth. Auburn sits ninth at 3-over, seven strokes behind the black and gold.
Vanderbilt will tee off in Saturday’s second round at 8 a.m. ET alongside Texas A&M and Florida. Live scoring for the SEC Championship is available on SCOREBOARD.
