FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Led by juniors Tess Davenport and Jayna Choi, Vanderbilt got off to an impressive start in the first round of the NCAA Franklin Regional at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of this team and the start we got off to today,” said head coach Greg Allen. “That’s exactly what you need to do in the first round of an NCAA Regional.”
The Commodores finished even-par, registered a 288 and are one stroke behind co-leaders Alabama and Duke going into Tuesday’s second round. The top four teams through 54 holes advance to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Davenport and Choi both shot 1-under par and fired five birdies on the day to sit in a tie for sixth going into the second day of the tournament. Davenport is tied for third in par-5 scoring (3-under), while Choi is in a seven-way tie for third in par-3 scoring (1-under). Out of 66 individuals, both juniors are two of 10 under par after the first day.
Senior Auston Kim, fresh off her qualification to the U.S. Women’s Open, is even-par and tied for 11th. With a relatively clean card, Kim posted two birdies and only two bogeys on the day.
“Jayna (Choi) and Tess (Davenport) were so solid and Auston (Kim) really hung in there,” noted Allen.
Both 2021 NCAA Championships individual qualifiers, junior Celina Sattelkau is two strokes behind Kim at 2-over and is tied for 28th, while fifth-year senior Louise Yu (+7) rounds out the team in a tie for 57th.
No. 2 seed Alabama and No. 4 seed Duke lead the field as the only two teams under par (-1), while No. 3 seed Texas A&M is fourth, one-stroke behind the Dores at 1-over par. ACC champion and No. 1 seed Wake Forest rounds out the top five at 4-over par.
In the individual medalist competition, Alabama’s Polly Mack sits in first at 7-under par after a bogey free back-nine that included seven-straight birdies on the last seven holes on the day. Hollie Muse of East Tennessee State is one-stroke behind at 6-under par after firing four-straight birdies on her last four holes. Jennie Park of Texas A&M rounds out the top three at 3-under par.
“We know there’s a lot of work left to be done the next two days especially as tight as the leaderboard is, but we know we are very capable of doing this,” said Allen. “I really appreciate all the Vandy support today, especially our women’s basketball coaching staff. They brought it from the first tee shot until the last putt dropped.”
Yu will begin play for the Dores in the second round with a 9:06 a.m. start from the first hole Tuesday. Live scoring for the event can be found here.
Know Before You Go
What: 2022 NCAA Franklin Regional
Where: Vanderbilt Legends Club
When: 8 a.m. Monday-Wednesday
Who: Vanderbilt (Host team), ACC champion and No. 1 seed Wake Forest, Alabama, Texas A&M, Duke and Pac-12 runner-up Oregon State. Brigham Young, Kent State, Texas San Antonio, Augusta, Boston University and Austin Peay; Sera Hasegawa and Holli Muse of East Tennessee State, Mikayla Bardwell of Tennessee, Tara Bettle of North Carolina Greensboro, Dorota Zalewska of Chattanooga and Payton Carter of Murray State.
At Stake: The top four teams and top two individuals not on an advancing team qualify for the NCAA championships at Grayhawk Golf Club (Raptor Course) in Scottsdale, Arizona, from May 20-25.
Admission: Free
Off and Running at Legends by Vanderbilt Athletics on on Exposure
