FRANKLIN, Tenn. – With a solid start and a blazing finish Tuesday, Vanderbilt surged to the top of the leaderboard going into the final day of the NCAA Franklin Regional at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
Vandy (-7) had the best round on the day at 7-under par as a team. After 36 holes, SEC foe Alabama is five strokes behind at 2-under par, while Duke sits in third at 2-over par.
ACC champion and No. 1 seed Wake Forest rounds out the top four at 3-over par. The Commodores and Crimson Tide are the only two teams under par after two rounds. The top four teams through 54 holes advance to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“I’m not even sure where to begin talking about how incredible today’s round was,” said head coach Greg Allen. “The only way i know how to describe it is special. All five girls were so dang solid today. They were very patient and hung in there and turned a good round into a great round on those last three holes.”
All five starting players for Vandy shot under par during the second round, while three Dores currently sit in the top 10 individually – juniors Tess Davenport and Jayna Choi along with senior Auston Kim. Out of 66 individuals, Davenport, Choi and Kim are three of 13 under par after 36 holes.
A trio of Dores – Davenport, Kim and fifth-year senior Louise Yu – were bogey free on the back nine.
Davenport led the Dores on Tuesday with an impressive 3-under-par, which ties a career low round of 69. With a bogey free round that included three birdies, she rose three spots into the top three. The junior is in a four-way tie for the lead in par-5 scoring (5-under).
Choi shot her second-straight 1-under par round this week and is eighth overall. The junior had five birdies and had a relatively clean back nine, which included two birdies and one bogey.
Kim found three birdies during her second round and was 1-under-par on the day. Her 1-under par score for the tournament moves her into the top 10 for a tie of ninth. The senior ended the day with an incredible shot from the cart path to the green, saving par on No. 18. Showing consistency throughout the tournament, Kim leads the field in pars at 27.
Both 2021 NCAA Championships individual qualifiers, Yu and junior Celina Sattelkau, surged up the leaderboard on the second day. Sattelkau fired four birdies to finish the day with 2-under par, moving up 14 spots in a tie for 14th. Yu shot a 1-under par with a relatively clean card that included two birdies and only one bogey. She improved 21 spots in a tie for 36th.
“What I really love about this group is they’re already getting refocused to come out tomorrow and taking care of business,” said Allen. “We we know there is work to be done and are some very capable teams of going low. We will focus on being where our feet are and stick to our game plan.”
In the individual medalist competition, Texas A&M’s Jennie Park (-9) moved up two spots after firing seven birdies, including five on the back nine. Remaining in the top three, Alabama’s Polly Mack (-6) sits in the second. In a three-way tie for third (-4), Davenport joins Augusta’s Natalia Yoko and Wake Forest’s Rachel Kuehn who is on the ANNIKA Award Spring Watch List.
Yu will begin play for the Dores in the final round with a 9:06 a.m. start from the first hole Wednesday. Live scoring for the event can be found here.
Know Before You Go
What: 2022 NCAA Franklin Regional
Where: Vanderbilt Legends Club
When: 8 a.m. Monday-Wednesday
Who: Vanderbilt (Host team), ACC champion and No. 1 seed Wake Forest, Alabama, Texas A&M, Duke and Pac-12 runner-up Oregon State. Brigham Young, Kent State, Texas San Antonio, Augusta, Boston University and Austin Peay; Sera Hasegawa and Holli Muse of East Tennessee State, Mikayla Bardwell of Tennessee, Tara Bettle of North Carolina Greensboro, Dorota Zalewska of Chattanooga and Payton Carter of Murray State.
At Stake: The top four teams and top two individuals not on an advancing team qualify for the NCAA championships at Grayhawk Golf Club (Raptor Course) in Scottsdale, Arizona, from May 20-25.
Admission: Free
Dores Surge to the Top by Vanderbilt Athletics on on Exposure
