Dores charge into top 10

May 23, 2012

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2012 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS Vanderbilt Legends Club – Franklin, Tenn.Par 72, 6,377 YardsTEAM LEADERBOARD (Top 5) Team 1st2nd3rd4thTotal1. Alabama 286 285 – – 571 T-2. UCLA 292 290 – – 582 T-2. North Carolina 290 292 – – 582 T-2. Virginia 288 294 – – 582 T-5. Arizona State 292291 – – 583 T-5. South Carolina 302281 – – 583 10. Vanderbilt 306 284 – – 590 INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD (Top 5) Name 1st2nd3rd4thTotal1. Brooke Pancake (Alabama) 68 70 – – 138 2. Giulia Molinaro (Arizona State) 69 71 – – 140 T-3. Katie Burnett (South Carolina) 74 67 – – 141 T-3. Brittany Marchand (NC State) 71 70 – – 141 T-3. Portland Rosen (Virginia) 66 75 – – 141 VANDERBILT SCORES Name 1st2nd3rd4thTotalT-16. Marina Alex 77 68 – – 145 T-16. Lauren Stratton 75 70 – – 145 T-33. Kendall Martindale 75 72 – – 147 T-89. Anna Leigh Keith 80 74 – – 154 T-100. Rene Sobolewski 79 76 – – 155

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s golf team put together a solid second round performance at the NCAA Division I Women’s Golf Championships, being held at the Commodores’ home course at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.

Vanderbilt shot a four-under 284 in the second round to bring its two-round total to a 14-over 590. The four-under round was the second lowest of the day, trailing only South Carolina’s seven-under performance. The Commodores sit in 10th place at the halfway mark of the championship.

The Commodores had an early tee time, giving them a chance to redeem a rough opening round that put them in a tie for 22nd entering the day. They also were staring the same back nine at Legends that gave them fits Tuesday, as they opened Wednesday’s action on the 10th tee.

Vanderbilt responded, especially at the top of the line-up with Marina Alex and Lauren Stratton. The pair carded sub-par rounds on the day. As a team, Vanderbilt was five-under at the turn (holes 10-18) before getting four birdies on the ninth to cap the round.

Alex was steady as can be, turning in a card with four birdies (two on the first nine, two on the second nine) to total a four-under 68. The senior moves to one-over par (145) for the tournament.

Alex’s round was one stroke off the best individual round of the morning, with South Carolina’s Katie Burnett shooting a five-under 67.

Stratton was two-under at the turn after opening her day with a birdie on 10, followed by a bogey on 15 and birdies on 16 and 18. Her second-nine kept her at two-under after a bogey on the par-four second and a birdie on nine to close the round at 70. Stratton’s two round total matches Alex’s 145 (+1).

Kendall Martindale had one of the cleanest cards of the morning wave, playing the first nine holes with straight pars before a birdie on one and a bogey on three. She then caped the round with six more pars to finish at an even-par 72. She has a two-round total of 147 (+3).

Anna Leigh Keith was one-under at the turn before making birdies on one, four, six and seven and closing her round with a birdie on nine to finish with a two-over par 72. Keith’s two-round total is 154 (+10).

Rene Sobolewski was four-over (76) as the high Commodore on the day, with her score not counting towards the team total. She did not take the most direct route, carding seven bogies and four birdies. Sobolewski is 11-over for the tournament (155).

Vanderbilt Head Coach Greg Allen was glad his team got to come back early in the morning after such a tough opening round.

“I feel like the quick turnaround was good for us,” Allen said. “It didn’t give them a lot of time to think about (the first round) and I think after we talked to them they were ready to move on to today.”

Despite the positive results in the second round, Allen knows his team still has a lot of work to do.

“We dug ourselves a huge hole,” he said. “We’re going to stick to the process and continue to take it one day at a time.”

The Commodores even got some positive encouragement from former Vanderbilt men’s golfer and current PGA Tour star Brandt Snedeker.

“We got a nice text from Brandt yesterday telling the girls to keep their heads up and that it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Allen said. “They obviously bought into that.”

Vanderbilt’s 10th place slot means they will tee off at 12:03 p.m. on the 10th tee along with 11th-place Duke and 12th-place Texas.

Alabama finds itself atop the leaderboard with a five-under 571. The Tide will take an 11-stroke lead into the third round, as they lead a trio of teams tied for second at six-over (582). UCLA, North Carolina and Virginia are the closest to Alabama at six-over, followed by South Carolina and Arizona State at seven-over.

The individual leaderboard also sees the Crimson Tide at the top, with Tennessee native Brooke Pancake at six-under 138. Arizona State’s Giulia Molinaro is in second at four-under 140.

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