NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt women’s golf opens the spring season this week at the Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. The Commodores have competed at the 54-hole event hosted at the Grand Reserve Golf Club twice in their history, most recently tying for second place in 2025.
“We are very thankful to have the opportunity to be playing golf again,” said head coach Greg Allen. “We have a fresh perspective on things after the past month where this team has been to two funerals and lived through a historic winter storm that caused so much damage on our community, so being able to play golf in Puerto Rico this week is something we don’t take for granted.”
The Vanderbilt lineup for the week is similar to last fall’s campaigns. Tillie Claggett, Ava Merrill and Sara Im lead the charge as upperclassmen. They are joined by Angelina Tolentino and Elizabeth Rudisill. Lynn Lim, who tied for 11th at the event last year, will compete as an individual.
“Obviously we aren’t as prepared as we would like to be but I feel like we have developed a lot more toughness,” said Allen. “This is a good field and there’s a chance we only get to play 36 so we need to come out ready. We’re a very talented and highly competitive team so I’m hoping it won’t take long to knock off the rust.”
The Commodores join a field of 18 teams this week, including five ranked squads on CLIPPD’s January poll. Including host-school Purdue, No. 10-ranked Vanderbilt will compete against No. 4 Arkansas, Furman, Georgia Southern, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, LSU, Minnesota, Michigan State, Michigan, No.14 North Carolina, North Florida, North Texas, No. 20 Northwestern, No. 15 Ole Miss and UNCW.
The tournament will feature 36 holes of play on Sunday with a shotgun start due to a forecast of rain for Monday. Vanderbilt will tee off at 6:30 a.m. CT on Sunday with Arkansas, Ole Miss, and Purdue. Live scoring for the event can be found HERE.
