SUNSET, S.C. — Vanderbilt women’s golf hit the ground running on Friday morning at the Clemson Invitational, taking a five-stroke lead into the clubhouse after 18 holes. The 8-under-par Commodores combined for a spring-low total of 280 strokes to open the tournament.
“It’s really nice to get off to a good start,” said head coach Greg Allen. “The girls came out ready to play this morning and stayed focused and patient all day.”
Three Commodores are positioned in the top 10 individually. Sophomore Tillie Claggett leads the lineup and sits in sole possession of third place with a 4-under opening round of 68. The Woodlands, Texas, native tallied six birdies in her first round.
Fellow Sophomore Lynn Lim sits one stroke back of Claggett after carding a 3-under 69. She is tied for fourth place heading into the weekend. Freshman Ava Merrill rounds out the Dores in the top 10, finishing tied for ninth place on the individual leaderboard. Merrill notched a 2-under 70 on Friday.
“I thought Tillie, Lynn and Ava were in control of their games all day,” said Allen. “They looked really good.”
Graduate student Celina Sattelkau is tied for 31st overall after shooting an opening-round 73. Virginie Ding’s 75 completes the lineup for the Commodores. Macie Brown, competing as an individual, had an 86.
“I’m proud of the toughness Celina played with,” said Allen. “She didn’t get off to a great start but fought hard and didn’t let her round get away from her.”
Host Clemson and Texas A&M are both five strokes behind Vanderbilt at The Reserve at Lake Keowee with 36 holes left to play this weekend.
“There’s certainly plenty of golf left to be played this weekend and we know we need to be disciplined enough to stick with our game plan,” said Allen.
Vanderbilt will tee off with Clemson, Texas A&M and LSU at 9 a.m. CT for Saturday’s second round. Live scoring for the event can be found on Golfstat.
