PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. – The Vanderbilt women’s golf team finished down the leaderboard at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge even though they posted their best round of the 54-hole tournament Tuesday.
Greg Allen’s Commodores fired a 14-over-par 298 in the final round, a four-stroke improvement over their score Monday. Despite the performance, Vanderbilt concluded the three-day event in a tie for 15th place.
The Northrop Grumman Challenge, held at Palos Verdes Golf Club in Southern California, drew a loaded field, including nine of Golfstat’s top 10 teams and 12 squads ranked inside Golfstat’s top 25.
After struggling Sunday and Monday in their first appearance in the tournament, the Commodores played their best golf in the closing holes Tuesday, collectively producing 10 birdies over the final seven holes to secure a tie with Ohio State.
Senior Abbey Carlson and junior Morgan Baxendale topped the Commodores’ final-round performance by carding 2-over-par rounds of 73. Carlson went without a birdie on her first 12 holes, only to close with three birdies over her last five holes. Baxendale also ended her round impressively, making three birdies over her final nine holes.
Two of the team’s top-ranked players, junior Louise Yu and sophomore Auston Kim, couldn’t solve the Palos Verdes on Tuesday. Yu notched a final-round score of 4-over-par 75. Kim started and closed with birdies, but finished the day with a 6-over-par 77.
The fifth Commodore, freshman Jayna Choi, also carded a 6-over-par 77.
The Commodores will be away from competition for nearly a month, returning in early March at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate held in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
Palos Verdes Golf Club, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
par-71, 6,017 yards
Team Standings (final results)
T-15. Vanderbilt 904 304-302-298 (+52)
Vanderbilt Individual Scores
T-58. Abbey Carlson 227 83-71-73 (+14)
T-58. Morgan Baxendale 227 75-79-73 (+14)
T-58. Louise Yu 227 75-77-75 (+14)
T-58. Auston Kim 227 71-79-77 (+14)
T-80. Jayna Choi 235 83-75-77 (+22)
