CARLSBAD, Calif. — Vanderbilt women’s golf finished 16th at the NCAA Championship, marking the Commodores’ best finish since 2014. Sophomore Ava Merrill advanced to Monday’s fourth round as the top individual on a non-qualifying team.
Vanderbilt was the first team off the cut line, missing a spot in Monday’s fourth round by just two strokes. Merrill carded a 2-under 70 in the third round to stand 17th on the individual leaderboard at 1-under-par for the championship. She will tee off at 3:13 p.m. CT in Monday’s final round of stroke play where the individual NCAA champion will be crowned.
“Well this definitely stings and I hate it for our girls,” said head coach Greg Allen. “It’s never a good feeling when the season ends. Thankfully, we don’t have any seniors in this lineup so we’re not having to say any goodbyes just yet.
“We are pumped that Ava made the cut and will get to play tomorrow,” Allen continued. “She is playing at a very high level right now and I’m excited to see how high she can climb tomorrow.”
For a second straight day, big numbers plagued the Dores as the black and gold carded three double bogeys and a triple among its scorers in round three. Those four holes accounted for nine strokes on a day when the Commodores finished 8-over-par.
Merrill’s 2-under 70 led the way for the Dores while Sara Im came in at even par for the round. Tillie Claggett carded a 3-over 75, Lynn Lim a 7-over 79 and Angelina Tolentino a 10-over 82 on the final day.
“I thought our girls played with a lot of heart today, but again, we made too many big numbers,” Allen said. “Those are hard to overcome when the cut is decided by two shots. I thought when we finished we might have a chance with the afternoon wave, but LSU and UCLA handled the wind and played well to keep us outside the line.
“I’m very encouraged about our future,” Allen continued. “This group had a really good year, but I think we all feel it could have been better. Hopefully this will motivate us to come back stronger.”
Merrill enters the final round of stroke play eight shots behind individual leader Maria Jose Marin of Arkansas who went 7-under on Sunday. Merrill is just two strokes outside the top 10, however, and will aim to become Vandy’s third top-10 performer in program history.
Live scoring for the Monday’s final round of stroke play is available on SCOREBOARD. The Golf Channel will also air live coverage of the fourth round as the NCAA individual champion is crowned.
