Oct. 13, 2017
Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational 1st round results
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Vanderbilt women enter second round play Saturday looking to rise up the leaderboard at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational.
The Commodores concluded the first round Friday with a 10-over team total of 298 over the University of North Carolina Finley Golf Course layout. They are tied with Virginia for 12th overall in the team standings. Duke, South Carolina and Alabama pace the field after 18 holes.
The Commodores struggled through their first nine holes, then put together a six-stroke improvement on the closing nine. Led by three birdies from junior Courtney Zeng, the squad tallied eight birdies after making the turn.
Head coach Greg Allen said the slow start, overall poor ball striking and missed putts has his team looking up at many in the 18-team field.
“The struggle was real today,” Allen said. “Early on, I didn’t think our ball striking was particularly great. When you add a few three putts on top of that, we find ourselves in the bottom half of the field.
“But I can’t fault the effort and the attitude of this team is great so I’m excited to see how we respond over the next two days,” Allen added.
Zeng was the team’s best opening-day performer. Zeng used birdies on holes one, three and seven to record a one-over 73. She stands 35th in the individual competition.
Freshmen Morgan Baxendale and Virginia Green supported Zeng by carding scores of two-over par 74. They are tied for 43rd individually.
Senior Alexandra Farnsworth and sophomore Abbey Carlson posted five-over rounds of 77 over the difficult Tom Fazio design.
A sixth Commodore playing as an individual, freshman Louise Yu, shot two-over par 74.
The second round will be played Saturday on the University of North Carolina venue, with tee times starting at 8 a.m. CT.
Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational Team Standings
T-12. Vanderbilt – 298
Vanderbilt Individual Scores
T-34. Courtney Zeng – 73
T-41. Morgan Baxendale – 74
T-41. Virginia Green – 74
T-69. Abbey Carlson – 77
T-69. Alexandra Farnsworth – 77
Other Vanderbilt Participants
T-41. Louise Yu – 74
