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Dores Finish Third At Rudolph 9/28/2003 <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?> Vanderbilt shot the second best team score of the day to finish in third place at the 17 team Mason Rudolph Championship Sunday. <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Georgia overcame UCLA’s team lead to win the championship by four shots on a cool and windy day. Individually, Arizona’s Erica Blasberg was the champion with a three-under-par total of 213, one shot better than Furman’s Sarah Johnston and two shots better than Vanderbilt senior Sarah Jacobs. The Commodore was one of just four individuals to break par Sunday. Courtney Wood and May Wood contributed to the third place finish with solid rounds of 73 while freshman Chris Brady struggled on several holes and finished with an 82. Georgia becomes the third different team champion in three years. Ohio State captured the original tournament in 2001 and Vanderbilt won a year ago. The tournament was played at the Vanderbilt Legends Club of Tennessee. Sarah Johnston, Furman “Everything came together this weekend. This was my best finish, I’m a fifth year senior and my previous best finish was seventh at Ohio State my sophomore year.” Sarah Jacobs,Vanderbilt “I played excellent golf today. These were by far the toughest conditions of the tournament with strong wind and cool weather. It was pretty cold when we began and I started with two bogeys. It took a few holes to warm up. “I’ve been playing this course very well lately. I think I was nine-under on my 54 hole qualifying so I am a bit disappointed, especially with my first two rounds. I was expecting to score better.” Georgia Coach Todd McCorkle “We have a very young team–two freshmen, two sophomores and one junior. In our first tournament of the year we played poorly at the NCAA Preview. I can’t say I’m surprised by winning but I knew with this strong field that we’d have to play our very best and I think we did. We showed heart and determination.” Martha Freitag, Vanderbilt Head Coach “We would have hoped to been able to win the tournament on our home course, and we had a legitimate chance to do that today. Sarah, May, and Courtney played excellent golf considering the difficult conditions. Our two freshmen played hard, but made some mistakes and they will learn from those mistakes. We are not disappointed with our performance. We beat a lot of good teams. Seven of the top ten teams in the country were in this field. We will prepare for the tournament at Kentucky where we will be among the favorites to win. Day 2 Vanderbilt was unable to catch first round leader UCLA Saturday but the Commodores stayed in fourth place after the second round of the Mason Rudolph Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club of Tennessee. UCLA held on to first place on a day when none of the 17 teams was able to make a major shift in position. The Bruins had a 36-hole total of 576, five shots better than second place Georgia. Auburn is third with the host Commodores at 587 in the fourth slot. Erica Blasberg of Arizona leads all individuals with a five-under par 139. She shot a three-under 69 to go with Friday’s opening 70. Maria Martinez of Auburn is one shot off the lead after shooting 69 today. Vanderbilt’s Sarah Jacobs had a two-under 70 Saturday and finds herself tied for eighth place at even par 144. Freshman Chris Brady, who opened with a 70, came back with a 75 and is tied for 11th place. The third annual tournament will conclude with 18 holes Sunday. Sarah Jacobs, Vanderbilt
“I was two-under at the turn and it was not so much that I played poorly on the back as much as I lost a little focus and didn’t make any birdies to compensate for that. All in all, I suppose I played a pretty steady round. The course is playing about the same degree of difficulty today. There is a bit more breeze today and early on that was somewhat of a factor but that also helped on several holes.” “Our team is a bit disappointed that we didn’t score better today but we’ve got 18 more holes to play tomorrow and hopefully we will get it going.” Vanderbilt Coach Martha Freitag
“We played the first 12 holes even par as a team but we didn’t finish strong. We bogeyed holes we normally play well. It was not for lack of effort but we didn’t get it done and we have got to be better on our home course. Tomorrow we don’t need to try harder but we need to find a way to dig a little deeper and be tougher competitors.” “The course is set up to be difficult but we’ve got seven of the top ten teams in the country in the tournament so it should be difficult. It is fair but challenging.” Day 1 Vanderbilt fired two-over-par 290 and found itself in a fourth place tie after the first round of the third annual Mason Rudolph Championship Friday. UCLA shot a torrid seven-under-par 281 to lead the 17 team field heading into Saturday’s second round. Bruin Hannah Jun equaled the tournament record with a five-under-par 67. Vanderbilt was paced by freshman Chris Brady, whose two-under-par 70 put her in a logjam for second place. The tournament, which is being played over the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tennessee, concludes Sunday. Quotes Note Hanna Jun’s 67 equals the Mason Rudolph Championship record originally set by Molly Fankhauser of OhioState in 2001. Martha Freitag,Vanderbilt Head Coach 290 is a good round of golf today and we are confident that we are capable of much more. I feel good about our position. Chris Brady had a great round — it was solid and composed. We finished strong today. Courtney birdies two of her last three holes and Sarah Jacobs was one-under over he last three holes. Hanna Jun, UCLA I had a good putting day. I did not hit as many greens as I wanted, but I got up and down. My round is a little ironic because I have all new clubs this week. I played a solid round in the last round of the NCAA preview and I have been working off that for the last two weeks. If you can place the ball here, you can score. Chris Brady, Vanderbilt freshman I played smart golf today. I actually tried to play like Sarah Jacobs; she gets a lot of pars and a few subtle birdies and always seems to shoot a good round. I thought I would try that. The greens were tough – fast with subtle breaks — and I was glad I didn’t have any three-putts. I just tried to leave myself short tap-ins. |
