SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Not only did Vanderbilt’s Celina Sattelkau advance to the final round of stroke-play competition at the NCAA Championships for the second season in a row, the junior golfer finished more than 20 spots higher in the individual standings following her performance on Monday.
“I’m really proud of the effort Celina played with today and the way she represented Vanderbilt University in our golf program,” said head coach Greg Allen.
Sattelkau ended up in a tie for 31st place among the 77 individuals who completed 72 holes with a four-day 8-over-par 296 total following a 77 her last day of the event. Starting on the 10th hole of the par-72, 6,340-yard Grayhawk Golf Club, she was even par at the turn after posting birdies on both Nos. 17 and 18, adding a fourth at the 474-yard seventh for her final birdie of the afternoon.
“I thought she was very solid on her first nine holes today and made a couple birdies making the turn, but unfortunately sort of got on the wrong side of momentum on her last nine holes,” noted Allen. “Still it was a great week for her and I’m excited to see what her senior year has in store for her next year.”
Back-to-back 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗦 at the 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡! 👌
(🎥 @tyler_martin9) | @GolfChannel x #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/uRXqoybnDg
— Vanderbilt Women's Golf (@VandyWGolf) May 23, 2022
A year ago, Sattelkau tied for 53rd place at 3-over par. With her effort this season, she became the first Dore in program history to reach the final round of stroke play on multiple occasions. The German native also posted the best finish by a Commodore since Simin Feng (T-13th) in 2014.
“Generally, I didn’t really finish the way I wanted to, but I’m still super grateful for my teammates being here supporting me today and my whole three years at Vandy,” said Sattelkau. “I wouldn’t have been possible without them.
“It was just really cool having all my teammates out here and having them cheer me on and say ‘boom’ when I make Birdie. The crowd was just really cool and made me feel very special.”
No. 1 Rose Zhang of Stanford was the stroke-play medalist after posting a 6-under-par 282 total. She was three shots ahead of No. 4 Natasha Andrea Oon of San Jose State, as just four individuals ended up below par over 72 holes. Rounding out the top three are SEC opponents, Jennie Park of Texas A&M and No. 2 Ingrid Lindblad of LSU, who both shot 1-under par. Oon, Park and Lindblad all shot 2-under on the day to move up two spots each, respectively.
Sattelkau finished a solid junior campaign in which she posted four top 20 finishes, including back-to-back 15th-place finishes at the SEC Championships and the NCAA Franklin Regional. She also recorded a top three finish at the prestigious Darius Rucker Intercollegiate from Feb. 28-March 2.
“So, I think this experience will help me, having made it to both Monday’s lead the team next year, but also I think the whole team learned so much this week,” said Sattelkau. “I feel like we have a really clear vision of what we want to achieve next year. I am very certain that we can do great things in the future.”
