SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Vanderbilt continued to battle Saturday at Grayhawk Golf Club, but the Commodores still have an uphill climb Sunday to finish inside the top 15 to advance to Monday’s final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championships.
Vandy—which moved up one spot in the standings—was 13 strokes better Saturday than its opening-round 305 on Friday, yet it goes into the third round 13 strokes back of making the cut. The top 15 squads at the end of Sunday’s 18 advance to Monday’s final round of stroke play.
The top eight teams at the end of Monday’s round move on to the match play portion of the NCAA Championships.
“I thought we did a much better job of being committed to the game plan today and it really showed tee to green,” Vandy head coach Greg Allen said. “The girls hit great shots all day. Unfortunately we are really struggling on the greens. We missed so many good birdie looks.
“We will obviously need a miracle Sunday to make the cut but I’m a guy that believes in miracles. We certainly have the talent to put together a really low round, it’s just a matter of getting the putts to drop.”
Vandy (+21) was once again led Saturday by Celina Sattelkau. The senior carded an even-par 72 for the second consecutive day and is tied for 38th overall.
Lynn Lim (+5) and Tess Davenport (+7) both had bounce-back rounds of 73. Virginie Ding (+9) was 2-over-par Saturday and Tillie Claggett (+12) shot a 75.
Vanderbilt is scheduled to tee off at 10 a.m. CT Saturday alongside Tulsa and North Carolina State. Live scoring for the tournament can be found HERE.