March 25, 2018
Clemson Invitational Final Results
SUNSET, S.C. – A late surge of birdies enabled the Vanderbilt women’s golf team to overtake Ohio State and earn a fourth-place team finish at the Clemson Invitational Sunday.
The Commodores combined for seven birdies over the last five holes to push past the Buckeyes. Vanderbilt finished the tournament with a 54-hole total of 862, trailing only Clemson, Michigan State and tournament champion Furman in the 15-team competition.
Abbey Carlson guided the Vanderbilt comeback by contributing her finest round since September. Carlson, from Lake Mary, Fla., produced six birdies to fire a four-under par 68 at The Reserve at Lake Keowee. It was Carlson’s best round since she fashioned a 66 in the first round of the Mason Rudolph Championship.
Carlson, ranked among the nation’s top-100 players by Golfstat prior to the tournament, also was the team’s low medalist, shooting a two-under par total of 214 to finish 18th among 84 competitors.
The excellent play from Carlson, who was the first Commodore to complete her round, seemed to spark her teammates. Junior Courtney Zeng followed Carlson with birdies on No. 14 and No. 16 then freshmen Louise Yu and Virginia Green capped the impressive Vanderbilt push with birdies on the par-4 18th hole.
The late rally delighted head coach Greg Allen, who has watched his young squad mature and steadily improve this spring. Vanderbilt’s final team score of 862 marked a 41-stroke improvement over their score at the Clemson Invitational tournament last year.
“I’m just so proud of our finish today,” Allen said. “I saw a lot of grit and resilience coming down the stretch. Just when it looked like the round was going in the other direction, we responded by making birdies coming down the stretch. That fires me up.
“Our girls made a choice to persevere when the round seemed to be going against them. We showed a lot of maturity for such a young team,” Allen added.
Carlson’s round didn’t start as a thing of beauty. After opening with a bogey on the first hole, the sophomore reeled off four birdies over the next nine holes. She then followed up a bogey at No. 13 with birdies on No. 14 and No. 15.
“Abbey’s round was as good as I’ve seen from her in a while,” Allen said. “She has been hitting it well all year and the putts started dropping for her today. I’m really happy for her.”
Carlson wasn’t the only determined Commodore Sunday. Zeng stood five-over par through six holes, then closed with four birdies to post a two-over par 74. Yu started with a double bogey on No. 1 and then played the final 17 holes one-under par for a 73. Green and freshman Morgan Baxendale only combined for two birdies, but finished with solid scores of 74 and 75, respectively.
Vanderbilt entered the final round tied with Wisconsin for fifth place, and seven strokes behind Ohio State. Paired with both Big Ten teams Sunday, the Commodores topped the Buckeyes by nine strokes and the Badgers by four strokes.
The Commodores are off next week, returning to competition April 8-10 for the Brickyard Collegiate in Macon, Ga. It will be the team’s final tune-up for the Southeastern Conference Championship scheduled April 18-22 in Birmingham, Ala.
Clemson Invitational
Final Team Standings
1. Furman (-30) 277-273-284=834
2. Michigan State (-20) 277-284-283=844
3. Clemson (-18) 283-276-287=846
4. Vanderbilt (-2) 286-287-289=862
5. Ohio State (E) 280-286-298=864
6. Wisconsin (+2) 289-284-293=866
7. Purdue (+5) 289-284-293=869
8. Indiana (+6) 295-284-291=870
9. Florida State (+7) 289-291-=871
10. Texas A&M (+11) 292-287-291=875
11. Oklahoma (+20) 295-292-297=884
12. Tennessee (+29) 299-295-299=893
13. UNC-Wilmington (+30) 296-295-303=894
14. Tulane (+34) 300-298-300=898
15. Harvard (+49) 307-305-301=913
Vanderbilt Individual Results
18. Abbey Carlson (-2) 74-72-68=214
T-25. Virginia Green (+1) 70-73-74=217
T-25. Courtney Zeng (+1) 71-72-74=217
T-30. Morgan Baxendale (+2) 71-72-75=218
T-39. Louise Yu (+4) 76-71-73=220
