FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Records fell and local flavor filled the leaderboard on Saturday at the 2008 Mason Rudolph Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships, hosted at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
Commodore sophomore Megan Grehan grabbed the women’s individual lead on Saturday by shooting a Commodore record seven-under 65. Her round breaks the school record previously shared by Jacqui Concolino and Chris Brady (2005-06), and ties for the lowest 18-hole score in the history of the Mason Rudolph Women’s Championship. At eight-under through 36 holes, Grehan leads Auburn’s Candace Schepperle by one stroke heading into Sunday’s third and final round.
In the women’s team competition, UCLA also wrote its name in the Mason Rudolph record books. The Bruins shot a 13-under 275 on Saturday, breaking the single-round team record — previously held by the 2001 Ohio State Buckeyes — by three strokes. The Bruins (-14) opened up a six-stroke edge on second-place Oklahoma State (-8). All five Bruins scored par or better, with UCLA’s Sydnee Michaels acing the par-3, 152-yard 16th hole to get back under-par for her second round. The third-place Commodores (-4) stand 10 strokes off the lead, while Southern California (-3) is the only other team under-par for the event.
On the South Course, Kentucky’s Ben Fuqua (-9) holds a one-stroke lead over Middle Tennessee State’s Jason Millard (-8) after both men carded six-under 65’s on Saturday. Vanderbilt senior Jon Curran (-5) and Belmont’s Danny Amundson (-4) are third and fourth, respectively, putting three players from Nashville-area schools ahead of a three-way tie for fifth place.
South Carolina (-7) holds a six-stroke lead over South Alabama (-1) in the men’s team competition. Kentucky (E), Vanderbilt (+1) and Arkansas State (+4) round out the top five. South Alabama was the day’s big mover, jumping from eighth place to second by shooting a tournament-low 279 (-5) in the second round.
Both Commodore squads are well within striking distance entering the final 18 holes of play on Sunday. Head Coach Greg Allen’s women’s team rose from fifth to third in the second round.
“Our team had more fun out on the golf course today than we’ve had in a long time,” Allen said. “Megan Grehan had a career round today, rolling the ball in from everywhere. That was contagious, because it happened all day long. We’re certainly in the hunt; we have some work to do, but I’m proud of the effort and the way the girls hung in there.
“We’re going to come out ready to go tomorrow,” Allen continued. “It was nice to see our team be able to get the fans excited, and we’re looking forward to having a lot of support again tomorrow.”
Vanderbilt’s only women’s medalist at the Mason Rudolph came in 2002 when Courtney Wood won the individual championship. The Commodores also have boasted a pair of runners-up in the event (Nicki Cutler in 2001; Concolino in 2005).
Head Coach Tom Shaw’s men dropped from second place to fourth, but sit only eight strokes off the pace set by Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina.
“We got out to a better start today,” Shaw said. “But we gave it back a little on the back side. It started with a few mental errors that led to bad execution and cost us some shots going in. I expect us to come out tomorrow ready to shoot some low rounds and we’ll see where that puts us.”
Tee times begin at 7:30 a.m. CT on Sunday for both events. The Vanderbilt men will tee off from the first hole of the South Course at 8:25 a.m., while the Commodore women will leave from No. 1 on the North Course at 9:15 a.m.
Live scoring and complete results are available through Golfstat via links on Vanderbilt official athletic Web site: VUcommodores.com.
Women’s Team Scores
1. UCLA – 287-275–562 (-14)
2. Oklahoma State – 286-282–568 (-8)
3. Vanderbilt – 291-281–572 (-4)
4. USC – 288-285–573 (-3)
5. Duke – 292-287–579 (+3)
6. Arizona State – 289-291–580 (+4)
7. Florida – 292-296–588 (+12)
8. Alabama – 298-292–590 (+14)
9. Purdue – 302-294–596 (+20)
10. Arkansas – 298-299–597 (+21)
11. Chattanooga – 308-292–600 (+24)
12. Wake Forest – 300-301–601 (+25)
13. Arizona – 297-306–603 (+27)
14. Auburn – 298-306–604 (+28)
15. Tennessee – 307-299–606 (+30)
16. Stanford – 313-297–610 (+34)
17. UCF – 309-304–613 (+37)
Women’s Individual Scores (Top 10 plus Vanderbilt)
1. Megan Grehan, VU 71-65–136 (-8)
2. Candace Schepperle, AU 67-70–137 (-7)
3. Sydnee Michaels, UCLA 68-70–138 (-6)
T4. Amanda Blumenherst, DU 67-72–139 (-5)
T4. Pernilla Lindberg, OSU 71-68–139 (-5)
T4. Jennifer Song, USC 71-68–139 (-5)
T7. Karin Kinnerud, OSU 71-69–140 (-4)
T7. Jennie Lee, DU 73-67–140 (-4)
9. Stefanie Endstrasser, USC 71-70–141 (-3)
T10. Marina Alex, VU 69-73–142 (-2)
T10. Maria Hernandez, PU 72-70–142 (-2)
T10. Tiffany Joh, UCLA 75-67–142 (-2)
T31. Andrea Messer – 74-74–148 (+4)
T-36. Brooke Goodwin – 79-70–149 (+5)
T-42. Jacqui Concolino – 77-73–150 (+6)
90. Christine Brown – 87-82–169 (+25)
Men’s Team Scores
1. South Carolina – 281-280–561 (-7)
2. South Alabama – 288-279–567 (-1)
3. Kentucky – 285-283–568 (E)
4. Vanderbilt – 283-286–569 (+1)
5. Arkansas State – 284-288–572 (+4)
6. Mississippi State – 291-282–573 (+5)
7. Kennesaw State – 286-288–574 (+6)
8. MTSU – 294-282–576 (+8)
9. UNC Greensboro – 298-280–578 (+10)
T10. Eastern Michigan – 289-290–579 (+11
T10. Memphis – 295-284–579 (+11)
T10. Purdue – 286-293–579 (+11)
13. Western Carolina – 289-294–583 (+15)
14. Belmont – 295-290–585 (+17)
15. Western Kentucky – 300-292–592 (+24)
16. Iowa State – 305-289–594 (+26)
17. Tennessee State – 314-293–607 (+39)
Men’s Individual Scores (Top 10 plus Vanderbilt)
1. Ben Fuqua, UK 68-65–133 (-9)
2. Jason Millard, MTSU 69-65–134 (-8)
3. Jon Curran, VU 67-70–137 (-5)
4. Danny Amundson, BU 69-69–138 (-4)
T5. Jack Hiluta, So. Ala. 69-70–139 (-3)
T5. Mark Silvers II, So. Car. 70-69–139 (-3)
T5. Michael Tulacz, Kenn. St. 68-71–139 (-3)
T8. Lloyd du Preez, Ark. State 71-69–140 (-2)
T8. Cody Klein, USA 71-69–140 (-2)
T10. George Bryan IV, So. Car. 69-72–141 (-1)
T10. Hudson Johnson, VU 70-71–141 (-1)
T10. Caleb Marsh, WCU 66-75–141 (-1)
T10. Patrick Rada, So. Car. 71-70–141 (-1)
T10. Christopher Ross, EMU 74-67–141 (-1)
T10. Tyler Thompson, Ark. State 66-75–141 (-1)
T17. Tyler Matthews, VU 71-72-143 (+1)
T59. Adam Hofmann, VU 76-73–149 (+7)
T59. Ryan Haselden, VU 75-74–149 (+7)
T36. Chris Rockwell, VU 76-70–146 (+4)
T59. John Ebert, VU 79-70–149 (+7)
T75. Trey DelGreco, VU 76-76-152 (+10)
T79. Craig Tallent, VU 83-70–153 (+11)
