FRANKLIN, Tenn. – South Carolina leads the men’s portion of the Mason Rudolph Championship after shooting a three-under par 281, and Oklahoma State leads the women after posting a two-under par 286 on the first day of play at the Vanderbilt Legends Golf Club in Franklin.
Commodore Jon Curran is in a tie for third after firing a three-under, 68 to push the Vanderbilt men into second place, and the women are in fourth place, with freshman Marina Alex leading Vanderbilt with a four-under par, 69. Alex finished her first round birdie-birdie-eagle on the last three holes to put her two strokes behind the individual lead.
The South Carolina men shot a 281 on the Legends South Course to grab the first-round team lead, two strokes better than the host Commodores, who fired a 283, and three strokes lower than Arkansas State, who ended the first round with a 284.
For the women on the North Course, Oklahoma State leads after shooting a two-under par, 286. UCLA trails the leader by one stroke after carding a first-round 287, and USC is in at even-par 288 and is two strokes back of the Cowgirls.
Individually for the men, Caleb Marsh of Western Carolina and Tyler Thompson lead all players with a five-under par, 66. Curran is a stroke back at 67, while Ben Fuqua of Kentucky and Michael Tulacz of Kennesaw State are tied for fourth with a 68.
For the women, two-time defending champion and 2008 U.S. Amateur champion Amanda Blumenherst of Duke and Candace Schepperle of Auburn share the individual lead after firing a five-under par, 67. Sydnee Michaels of UCLA is a stroke back, and Vanderbilt’s Marina Alex and Arkansas’ Alex Schulte are in a tie for fourth after shooting a 69.
The Commodore men were led by senior All-American Jon Curran, who is in third place with a three-under, 68. Junior Hudson Johnson also came in at under par with a 70 (one-under), which placed him in a tie for 11, while senior Tyler Matthews posted an even-par 71 to put him in a tie for 16th. Sophomore Ryan Haselden ended the day at four-over par, 75 (T-50th), and sophomore Adam Hoffman carded a first-round 76 to place him in a tie for 57th place.
“We were good today, but not great,” VU men’s head coach Tom Shaw said. “We could use some lower scores from the bottom of our lineup. This is a strong field, and we’ll have to post low scores to stay at the top.”
Shaw was impressed with Curran’s performance, which has the senior one stroke back of the individual lead.
“Jon Curran was his usual, solid self,” he said. “He hits a lot of fairways and greens, and that’s why he’s an All-American.”
The Vanderbilt women overcame a slow start to end the day in fourth place with a team total of 291. Freshman Marina Alex paced the Commodore effort with an outstanding collegiate debut, firing a first-round 69, good for a tie for fourth. Sophomore Megan Grehan ended the day with a one-under, 71, which put her in a tie for sixth place, freshman Andrea Messer carded a two-over 74 (30th), senior Jacqui Concolino recorded a 78 (58), and junior Brooke Goodwin ended with a 79 (68th). Christine Brown played as an individual and shot an 87 (90th).
“We’re excited about our finish today,” said Vanderbilt head women’s coach Greg Allen after his four-counting scorers combined for a six-under par back nine. “Our attitude was good today as it has been all fall, and we finished strong. We really feel like we can do some neat things with this team. We’re in a good spot after today’s round, and we need to come out and do the same thing tomorrow.”
Alex, a freshman from Wayne, N.J., fired a three-under 33 on the back nine after an even par 36 on the front in route to her opening-round 69. Alex bogeyed 14 and 15, but finished strong with a birdie on 16 and 17, and chipped in for eagle on 18.
“I’m thrilled with the way I played today,” said Alex. “Our team played well today, and we’re in a good position after the first day.”
Men’s Team Scores
1. South Carolina – 281 (-3)
2. Vanderbilt – 283 (-1)
3. Arkansas State – 284 (E)
4. Kentucky – 285 (+1)
5. Purdue – 286 (+2)
5. Kennesaw State – 286 (+2)
7. Eastern Michigan – 287 (+3)
8. South Alabama – 288 (+4)
9. Western Carolina – 290 (+6)
10. Mississippi State – 291 (+7)
11. MTSU – 294 (+10)
12. Belmont – 295 (+11)
14. UNC Greensboro – 300 (+16)
14. Western Kentucky – 300 (+16)
16. Iowa State – 305 (+21)
17. Tennessee State – 314 (+30)
Men’s Individual Scores (Top 10)
1. Caleb Marsh, W. Carolina – 66 (-5)
1. Tyler Thompson, Arkansas St. – 66 (-5)
3. Jon Curran – 67 (-4)
4. Ben Fuqua – 68 (-3)
4. Michael Tulacz – 68 (-3)
6. Danny Amundson – 69 (-2)
6. George Bryan IV – 69 (-2)
6. Jack Hiluta – 69 (-2)
6. Jason Millard – 69 (-2)
6. Andy Winings – 69 (-2)
Vanderbilt Scores
3. Jon Curran – 67 (-4)
T-11. Hudson Johnson – 70 (-1)
T-16. Tyler Matthews – 71 (E)
T-50. Ryan Haselden – 75 (+4)
T-59. Adam Hofmann – 76 (+5)
T-59. Trey DelGreco – 76 (+5)
T-59. Chris Rockwell – 76 (+5)
T-81. John Ebert – 79 (+8)
T-87. Craig Tallent – 83 (+12)
Women’s Team Scores
1. Oklahoma State – 286 (-2)
2. UCLA – 287 (-1)
3. USC – 288 (E)
4. Arizona State – 289 (+1)
5. Vanderbilt – 291 (+3)
6. Duke – 292 (+4)
6. Florida – 292 (+4)
8. Arizona – 297 (+9)
9. Alabama – 298 (+10)
9. Arkansas – 298 (+10)
9. Auburn -298 (+10)
12. Wake Forest – 300 (+12)
13. Purdue – 302 (+14)
14. Tennessee – 307 (+19)
15. Chattanooga – 208 (+20)
16. UCF – 309 (+21)
17. Stanford – 313 (+25)
Women’s Individual Scores (Top 10)
1. Amanda Blumenherst, Duke – 67 (-5)
1. Candace Schepperle, Auburn – 67 (-5)
2. Sydnee Michaels, UCLA – 68 (-4)
3. Marina Alex, Vanderbilt – 69 (-3)
3. Alex Schulte, Arkansas – 69 (-3)
6. Megan Grehan, Vanderbilt – 71 (-1)
6. Karin Kinnerud, Oklahoma State – 71 (-1)
6. Stephanie Kono, UCLA – 71 (-1)
6. Pernilla Lindberg, Oklahoma State -71 (-1)
6. Caroline Masson, Oklahoma State – 71 (-1)
6. Natalie Sheary, Waker Forest – 71 (-1)
6. Amanda Wilson, Arizona – 71 (-1)
6. Jessica Yadloczky, Florida – 71 (-1)
6. Stefanie Endstrasser, USC – 71 (-1)
Vanderbilt Scores
T-3. Marina Alex – 69 (-3)
T-6. Megan Grehan – 71 (-1)
T-30. Andrea Messer – 74 (+2)
T-58. Jacqui Concolino – 78 (+6)
T-68. Brooke Goodwin – 79 (+7)
90. Christine Brown – 87 (+15)
