Third at The Ally

Sara Im ties for second to lead Dores to podium finish

by Ben Schomberg

WEST POINT, Miss. — Vanderbilt women’s golf placed third at The Ally at the Old Waverly Golf Club thanks to a 6-under team total on the week. The Commodores finished 2-over in the final round on Wednesday.

“What a great learning opportunity for our team today,” said head coach Greg Allen. “The girls fought really hard, but in the end, we made too many mistakes coming down the stretch.”

Sara Im finished runner-up individually, carding an 8-under tournament total complete with 14 birdies. Second place marks her career-best finish in the black and gold. Im notched a 1-under final round where she tallied four birdies.

“I’m really proud of the fall season Sara put together,” said Allen. “She has worked really hard since last year and it’s nice to see that paying off for her.

Tillie Claggett went 1-under on Wednesday to bring her tournament score down to a 1-over total. The sophomore tied for 19th individually.

Ava Merrill led all golfers this week in birdies, holing 15 total over three rounds. Her 1-over-par 73 on Wednesday brought her to 2-under for the week, enough to tie for 10th place individually. This performance is her second top 10 finish of the fall.

Charlene Chung had her best round of the week with a 3-over-par 77. Lynn Lim ended the tournament with a final-round 76. Competing as individuals, Macie Brown shot a 78 and Claire Henson an 81.

“We saw signs this fall of what this team can be capable of doing,” said Allen. “We know we have the talent to be a great team, we just need a few little tweaks over the offseason.”

This year’s third-place finish at The Ally is the best in Vanderbilt’s history at the event. The Commodores holed 55 birdies over the three-day, 54-hole event.

Vanderbilt finished in the top five teams in three of its four events this fall season, winning one—the Carmel Cup—and putting on leading performances at the Mason Rudolph Championship and The Ally.

The Commodores will break from competition for a few months as the winter approaches in Nashville. Vanderbilt returns to the links in early February to compete at the Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.