NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt women’s golf tees off the fall season this weekend at the Carmel Cup in Pebble Beach, California, at the legendary Pebble Beach Golf Links. Mississippi State hosts a competitive lineup of teams in this three-day, 54-hole competition where six of eight schools advanced to the 2023 NCAA Championships last May.
The Commodores will take on multiple conference and national foes in this repeat of last year’s field that includes reigning SEC champion Texas A&M, 2022 Carmel Cup winner Stanford, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech.
“What an honor and a privilege it is to open the season at Pebble Beach,” said head coach Greg Allen. “We are grateful to Fin Ewing for making this happen for our young ladies. He has been very generous to both golf programs at Vanderbilt over the years.”
The Commodores return three decorated veterans to their lineup: 2023 Second Team All-American Celina Sattelkau, 2023 SEC Freshman of the Year Lynn Lim, and Tillie Claggett, who joined Lim on the SEC All-Freshman Team last spring. Rounding out the group are three freshmen—Sara Im, Ava Merrill, and Charlene Chung—who be making their collegiate debuts, continuing a trend of youthful influence that was the heart of the Dores’ lineup all last year.
“With three freshmen in the lineup it should be very exciting,” said Allen. “We also have a lot of experience from last year with Celina, Lynn and Tillie, so we will definitely lean on them to help guide the freshmen.”
Although the Commodores finished in eight place at the tournament a year ago, they did not let the slow start get in the way of a season that ultimately culminated in an NCAA Championships appearance. This year, the goals remain the same.
“My expectation for this year’s team remains the same as every other year, that we show up prepared for every round and be willing to play hard from start to finish,” said Allen.
Chung will lead Vanderbilt off when she begins play from the first tee at 9:44 a.m. CT. Live scoring for the event can be found HERE.
