March 24, 2018
Clemson Invitational 2nd Round Results
SUNSET, S.C. – The Vanderbilt women’s golf team displayed plenty of consistency Saturday but failed to move up the leaderboard after second-round play at the Clemson Invitational.
The Commodores posted a one-under team score of 287 Saturday, and are tied with Wisconsin for fifth place among 15 teams. They trail Ohio State, Michigan State, host Clemson and tournament-leading Furman.
Vanderbilt will tee off early Sunday at The Reserve at Lake Keowee paired with its closest competitors, Big Ten members Ohio State and Wisconsin.
Even without a birdie barrage from his team, Vanderbilt head coach Greg Allen saw his squad play one of its most consistent rounds. All five players finished the day within a stroke of par, with freshman Louise Yu registering a low round of one-under 71.
Allen said he expects to see a focused Commodore squad having fun Sunday, intent on moving up the leaderboard.
“We had a bunch of in-between yardages today and had trouble getting close looks for birdie,” Allen said. “I felt like we never had any real momentum but it was nice having all five girls in the mix all day. They hung in there and made some putts coming in.
“Tomorrow will be fun. We know we’re playing well and it’s only a matter of time before we post a low number. Our focus will be on hitting committed, courageous and confident shots all day,” Allen added.
Despite not having a player in contention for medalist honors, the Commodores have three golfers inside the top 25 on the individual leaderboard. The trio – freshmen Morgan Baxendale and Virginia Green and junior Courtney Zeng – are tied for 22nd with a 36-hole total of one-under par 143. Sophomore Abbey Carlson is tied for 35th with a 1-over 145 total. Yu is in a 42nd-place tie at three-over 147.
Yu’s one-under par round on the difficult par-72 layout was highlighted by three birdies and a bogey-free back nine.
Carlson, Baxendale and Zeng matched par on Saturday, but all three had chances for a lower round. Carlson paced the Commodores with five birdies, including three of her last five holes, but was hurt by five bogeys during the round. Baxendale collected four birdies, including two of the last three holes but opened with an over-par front nine. Zeng got off to a hot start, but settled for a par score after not making a birdie on the closing nine holes.
Green made just one birdie but kept her round together with 15 pars.
Clemson Invitational Team Scores
1. Furman (-26) 277-273=550
2. Clemson (-17) 283-276=559
3. Michigan State (-15) 277-284=559
4. Ohio State (-10) 280-286=566
5. Vanderbilt (-3) 286-287=573
6. Wisconsin (-3) 289-284=573
7. Purdue (E) 289-284=576
8. Texas A&M (+1) 292-287=577
9. Indiana (+3) 295-284=579
10. Florida State (+4) 289-291=580
11. Oklahoma (+11) 295-292=587
12. UNC-Wilmington (+15) 296-295=591
13. Tennessee (+18) 299-295=594
14. Tulane (+22) 300-298=598
15. Harvard (+36) 307-305=612
Vanderbilt Individual Results
T-22. Virginia Green (-1) 70-73=143
T-22. Morgan Baxendale (-1) 71-72-143
T-22. Courtney Zeng (-1) 71-72=143
T-35. Abbey Carlson (+2) 74-72=146
T-42. Louise Yu (+3) 76-71=147
