STANFORD, Calif. – A sluggish start threatened to derail Vanderbilt on day two, but the Commodores rallied at the turn to finish 1-over par on Tuesday and maintain their fourth-place standing heading into the final round at the Stanford Regional.
Starting on the back nine at Stanford Golf Course, the Dores went 5-over par before the turn but reversed their fortunes on the front side. After posting 14 bogeys to open the day, Vandy counted only three on the front. The Dores holed seven birdies on the front nine to pull back four strokes and salvage the day.
“I’m really proud of how we stayed patient and weathered the storm,” head coach Greg Allen said. “That could have gotten out of hand at the turn. We sure didn’t look very good on our front nine. Our ball striking wasn’t great, and we didn’t take advantage of the par fives like we did yesterday.
“I thought we looked like ourselves on our final nine holes and I truly believe that momentum will be carried into tomorrow. This team wants to go back to La Costa, and it will be right there in front of us tomorrow. We just need to go take it.”
Ava Merrill went 3-under in the round with six birdies, four of which came in Vandy’s back nine. Merrill moved to 2-under for the regional, good for 12th-place individually. Kathryn Ha and Lynn Lim each carded even-par 71s. Lim overcame a pair of birdies in the first nine holes with two birdies down the stretch. Ha, meanwhile, eagled the par-5 12th to keep Vandy afloat early.
Sara Im came home at 4-over par, shaking off a tough stretch through the middle of her round to gain the Dores a stroke with a late birdie on No. 7. Elizabeth Rudisill, who subbed in for the second round, carded a 5-over 76.
Stanford seized control of the regional with a 17-under second round, sitting 26-under atop the tournament standings. Pepperdine is second at 7-under and Oregon State third at 4-under.
The Commodores sit 3-over par in fourth, one stroke ahead of Arizona State. Missouri is sixth at 6-over. The top five teams following Wednesday’s final round will advance to the National Championship at Omni La Costa in Carlsbad.
Vandy will duke it out with Arizona State and Missouri in the final round, teeing off from No. 10 at 8 a.m. PT/10 a.m. CT.
Fans can follow the Dores with live streaming coverage on Babygrande Golf and live scoring for the regionals is available on SCOREBOARD.
