NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt women’s golf opened its season on Friday with an 8-over-par round at the Carmel Cup. The Commodores sit in fourth place within a tight pack of teams at the Pebble Beach event. Texas A&M is in first place at 7-under par.
“I thought our girls did a really good job of just getting out there and competing,” said head coach Greg Allen.
Vanderbilt trails second-place Mississippi State by only two strokes and third-place Oklahoma State by one. The Commodores lead Arkansas and TCU by three strokes.
“We didn’t have our best stuff at times and looked a little sloppy on the greens, and we also had some bad luck at times,” said Allen. “Kathryn’s tee ball got stuck in the famous cypress tree in the middle of 18 fairway, but overall, it was a pretty decent round.”
Freshman Kathryn Ha and senior Lynn Lim led the Commodores with even par rounds. Ha knocked in five birdies during her first round as a Dore while Lim closed her round out with a birdie on the famed 18th hole, her fourth of the round. Both Ha and Lim are tied for 11th place individually.
“I’m proud of our two freshmen. It’s easy to get caught up in the moment when your first college round is played at Pebble Beach,” said Allen. “Kathryn played really good golf despite the bad luck on 18.”
Tillie Claggett and Sara Im turned in 2-over-par 74 rounds to begin the tournament. Ava Merrill notched a 4-over 76. Elizabeth Rudisill began her Commodore career with a 77.
“Elizabeth will be just fine,” said Allen. “She just needs to tighten up a few things. Our upperclassmen will be fine as well. Lynn, Tillie, Ava and Sara have played a lot of rounds for us over the years and provide a lot of stability for this team.”
The Dores totaled the most birdies of any team with 20 on Friday and averaged the third-best score on both par 4s and par 5s.
“I’m excited to see what they can do tomorrow,” said Allen. “This team is very capable of going out tomorrow and doing what Texas A&M did today.”
Vanderbilt will take the tee alongside Oklahoma State and TCU at 11:55 a.m. CT for Saturday’s second round. Live scoring for the event can be found HERE.
