CHARLESTON, S.C. – Vanderbilt women’s golf carded an even-par 284 in the final round of the Cougar Classic at Yeamans Hall Golf Club to finish eighth in the opening tournament of the season. Junior Angelina Tolentino paced the Commodores, tying for sixth individually after firing a 4-under 67 in Tuesday’s final round.
Tolentino holed six birdies in her 4-under performance, tying for the low round of the day. After a bogey on her second hole of the round, Tolentino ripped off three-straight birdies to kickstart her stellar day. The junior also finished 4-under for the week, tying for sixth overall just two strokes behind medalist honors.
Sara Im closed at even par for the 54-hole week after a 2-over 73 on Tuesday. Im came home tied for 15th on the individual leaderboard.
“Angelina was really, really good today,” said head coach Greg Allen. “It’s really nice seeing the steady improvement she continues to make since her freshman year. I thought this was one of Sara’s better ball striking performances so good to see her get a top 15 finish.”
Vanderbilt moved up one spot in the team standings to finish eighth on opening weekend. The Commodores bounced back from a 7-over second round on Monday to post their second even-par circuit of the week.
“Today I thought we saw a glimpse of what this team could be capable of this season,” said Allen. “I’m proud of the fight we showed. We really cleaned up our par-5 scoring but still weren’t great on the greens. We learned that every shot matters as we were so close to a top five finish. We talked about letting our struggles this week lead to our successes later in the season. We’re excited about getting ready to host the Mason next weekend.”
Ava Merrill finished the tournament with an even-par 71 on Tuesday to go 4-over for the week. Olivia Wood added a 2-over 73 and Elizabeth Rudisill a 79 to round out the Commodore lineup. Individual Kathryn Ha posted a 1-over 72 in the final round.
Florida claimed the team crown at 16-under-par and 10 strokes clear of second place. Vanderbilt narrowly missed a top five finish after spending much of the day in a four-way battle for the spot. Miami finished at 4-over in fifth with Furman at 5-over and Ole Miss at 6-over just ahead of the Dores.
Vandy returns to the course Sept. 18-20 for the annual Mason Rudolph Championship at Vanderbilt Legends Club.