LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mid-round miscues stalled Vanderbilt women’s golf on the opening day of the NCAA Lexington Regional as the Commodores finished 13-over-par on a rainy Monday at Keene Trace Golf Club.
The Dores sit 10th on the team leaderboard, nine strokes back of TCU who occupies the fifth and final spot for NCAA Championship qualification.
“Well, this isn’t the ideal start you want at a regional but it’s the hand we have dealt ourselves, so, we are going to make the best of it,” head coach Greg Allen said. “I thought we were solid on our first nine holes then things started going sideways on us when we made the turn, especially on four, five and six.”
Beginning its day on the back nine, Vanderbilt steadied after a shaky start to hit the turn at 4-over as a team. The front side of the Champion Trace course mired the Dores in swampy trouble as Vandy dropped eight strokes on holes No. 4-6.
“We definitely have work to do, and it starts with finding fairways,” said Allen. “As wet as the course is, hitting out of the rough is very penalizing. We also need to play the par fives better.”
Ava Merrill leads the Commodores at 2-over after closing with two birdies in her final five holes of the day. Sara Im and Lynn Lim came in at 3-over, Angelina Tolentino at 5-over and Tillie Claggett at 9-over.
Vanderbilt will tee off in Tuesday’s second round beginning at 8:55 a.m. on the 10th. The Dores will look to make a move alongside Pepperdine and Fairleigh Dickinson.
“I’ve had confidence in the team all year long, so I’m not going to stop believing in them,” said Allen. “We know we have it in us to play great golf, and I’ll be a very happy coach if it starts tomorrow.”
Florida State leads the regional at 7-under and is the lone team under par. Live scoring for the regional is available on Scoreboard.
