HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Competing as an individual this week, Sara Im is in eighth place individually at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate following an even-par opening round. The junior holed three birdies and is just one stroke behind the top five. As a team, No. 14 Vanderbilt is tied for 10th with Alabama after shooting a 299 on Monday.
“It was really encouraging to see Sara take advantage of her opportunity playing as an individual,” said head coach Greg Allen. “She’s been working really hard on her game, and it was nice to see her play well today.”
Lynn Lim led the Commodores with a first-round 73 that included three birdies. The senior, tied for 19th individually, was on-line for an ace on hole No. 8 before her ball struck another on the green. Angelina Tolentino, in 27th individually, shot a 74, while Ava Merrill added a 75. Tillie Claggett had a 77 and Elizabeth Rudisill an 85.
“Long Cove is a demanding course on a sunny calm day,” said Allen. “On a cold, windy day, it can beat you down, and we kind of got beat down a bit today. But there was no quit in any of our girls and I’m proud of them for that.
No. 9 Texas leads the event at 5-under par. No. 26 Florida State is in second at 3-over. Vanderbilt trails third-place No. 5 Auburn by only five strokes.
“As hard as it played today,” said Allen, “we still have a group of girls that are ready to get back out there tomorrow and compete and try climbing the leaderboard.”
Vanderbilt will tee off round two at 9:20 a.m. CT with Duke and Kentucky. The Golf Channel will broadcast the event live from 1:30-4:30 p.m. CT. Live scoring for the event can be found on SCOREBOARD.
