STANFORD, Calif. – Vanderbilt women’s golf posted a 2-over-par 286 to open play at the NCAA Stanford Regional on Monday. While the Commodores did not have their best, the solid start has the black and gold in fourth place to begin the march to Carlsbad.
Junior Sara Im carded a 2-under 69 with four birdies to lead Vandy in round one. Ava Merrill and Kathryn Ha each posted solid 1-over rounds while Lynn Lim came home at 2-over to round out the scoring for the Commodores. Angelina Tolentino battled back from big numbers on No. 4 and 6 to finish at 4-over while closing the final 12 holes at 1-under.
“Not a bad little start to the week but I actually didn’t think we looked very sharp, so I feel pretty good about where we’re at,” head coach Greg Allen said after day one. “We definitely need to clean some things up the next couple days. We’re usually a pretty good driving team and I felt like some of our tee shots got us in trouble today. I also felt like we can be better with our chipping.
“It was really nice to see Sara play well and kind of carry us today. I’m very confident in this group and excited to watch them over the next two days. “
Vanderbilt began the day 3-under through the first three holes, but trouble struck on the middle of the front nine. The Dores ate five bogeys, a double and a triple in the next three holes to drop five strokes as a team and move to 2-over. Vandy settled over the final 12 holes to play even par the rest of the way thanks in large part to three birdies from Im and a 1-under back nine from Ha.
Host and top-ranked Stanford leads the regional at 9-under through the first round. Oregon State sits second at 5-under and Pepperdine third at 1-under. Arizona is just behind the Dores at 3-over par and Arizona State and Mizzou stand tied for sixth at 6-over. Cal State Fullerton is eighth at 9-over par.
The top five teams from each regional advance to the NCAA Championship. Vanderbilt will look to extend its cushion above the cutline in round two as the Dores tee off at 8 a.m. PT/ 10 a.m. CT alongside Arizona and Arizona State from the 10th hole.
Fans can follow the Dores with live streaming coverage on Babygrande Golf and live scoring for the regionals is available on SCOREBOARD.
