CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Ava Merrill led the way again for Vanderbilt women’s golf on Saturday at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational, carding an even-par round to remain tied for fourth individually. With 18 holes remaining, the sophomore looks to secure her third top-five finish as a Commodore.
“Ava continued to play really good golf,” said head coach Greg Allen. “She made two incredible par saves on the last two holes that will hopefully give her momentum for tomorrow.”
Vandy notched an 11-over-par 291 as a team in the second round, dropping four strokes from Friday’s total and gaining one spot on the leaderboard.
“Despite not being where we want to be on the leaderboard, I saw a lot of good things today,” said head coach Greg Allen.
Lynn Lim and Angelina Tolentino both significantly improved their scores, with Lim going 3-over and Tolentino—who sunk three birdies on the back nine—shooting a 4-over-par 74.
“I also saw some incredible fights from Angelina and Tillie after poor starts,” said Allen. “Hopefully the finish will carry over to tomorrow.”
Sara Im continued with her consistency, firing a second-round 74. Tillie Claggett shot a 78.
“Sara was steady today and it was nice to see Lynn bounce back from her rough day yesterday,” said Allen. “For tomorrow, we need to continue to find a way to hit fairways and then be better on the greens.”
Vanderbilt will tee off with Michigan, UNCW and Virginia Tech on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. CT to wrap up the competition. Live scoring for the event can be found HERE.
