Sattelkau Makes the Cut

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Vanderbilt junior Celina Sattelkau advanced to the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championships scheduled to begin Monday at Grayhawk Golf Club.

With a 3-under par round Sunday, Sattelkau had a near-clean card that included four birdies and only one bogey. She finished 3-over par through 54 holes and is currently tied for 14th overall. The German native is one of the nine individuals not on the 15 teams advancing to the final round of stroke play.

“Today is sort of bittersweet as the season comes to an end for this team, but we are all super pumped for Celina as she makes it two years in a row making it as an individual to the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championships,” said head coach Greg Allen. “She played so well today and looked in control of her game all day. I’m excited for her opportunity tomorrow.”

In the individual medalist competition, only four out of 140 players were under par after the third round. Stanford’s Rose Zhang, the top-ranked individual by Golfweek and Golfstat, still remains in first at 9-under par after carding four birdies and a bogey-free back nine after the third day. Seven strokes behind Zhang are Georgia’s Jenny Bae and Oregon’s Tze-Han Lin at 2-under par. Bae was 5-under par on the day after firing six birdies and a bogey-free front nine, while Lin had a bogey-free front nine and two birdies. A 72-hole individual medalist will also be crowned after Monday’s final round.

In the 24-team field, the Commodores shot their best round of the tournament at 11-over par and moved up to a tie for 22nd with SEC foe Arkansas after logging a 913 through 54-holes. It marked the best NCAA Championships finish for the Dores since 2014, when Vandy finished tied for 10th place.

Stanford was the only team to shoot a round under par (-5) through the first three days of the tournament and holds a nine-stroke advantage over Pac-12 champion and No. 2 seed Oregon, which sits in second at 9-over par. SEC opponent Texas A&M (+13) rounds out the top three at 13-over par. South Carolina was the final team to advance after winning a sudden-death playoff against Wake Forest, 23-22.

“Unfortunately, this wasn’t our week but I think our young ladies gained some valuable lessons about getting around Grayhawk and will be hungry to earn a trip back here next year,” noted Allen.

The par-72 course playing at 6,340 yards continued to challenge the field of top college golfers. No team is under-par through 54 holes and the average score among the individual field is 75.61.

Senior Auston Kim (+12) posted a 6-over par round to tie for 75th, while junior Tess Davenport (+17) shot a 4-over par round and finished tied for 106th. Junior Jayna Choi (+22) finished 121st, while fifth-year senior Louise Yu carded a 4-over par round after reentering the Vandy line for the last 18 holes.

“I am so grateful for what Lou (Louise) and Auston have done for our program,” said Allen. “They are leaving it better than they found it and we will surely miss them. They have broken scoring records, helped us win two NCAA Regionals and were part of our historic six-win season. Most of all, they have been great ambassadors for Vanderbilt University.”

Sattelkau is set to tee off at 2:23 p.m. (CT) Monday and live scoring for the event can be found here. The final round will also broadcast on GOLF Channel from 4-8 p.m. (CT).