May 3, 2018
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Vanderbilt women’s golf freshmen standouts Morgan Baxendale and Louise Yu and senior Alexandra Farnsworth have earned postseason recognition from Southeastern Conference head coaches, the league announced Thursday.
Baxendale, from Orlando, Fla., was named to the Coaches’ All-SEC Second Team and SEC All-Freshman squad. Yu, from Duluth, Ga., joins Baxendale as an SEC All-Freshman recipient. Farnsworth, from Nashville, was Vanderbilt’s designee to the SEC Women’s Golf Community Service Team.
Head Coach Greg Allen’s Commodores, sparked in part by the play of Baxendale and Yu, have returned to national prominence in the 2017-18 season. Ranked No. 21 by Golfweek and No. 22 by Golfstat, the Commodores are the No. 6-seeded team in the upcoming NCAA Tallahassee Regional at Florida State’s Seminole Golf Club.
Allen was pleased to hear of the SEC honors for Baxendale, Yu and Farnsworth.
“I’m really happy that Mo [Baxendale] and Lou [Yu] were recognized for their outstanding play as freshmen competing in the best conference in the nation. From September to now, they have competed at a high level and continued to improve,” Allen said. “And Farney [Farnsworth] has been a valuable member of our team since arriving on campus four years ago and takes tremendous pride in community service. She’s very deserving of this honor.”
Baxendale concluded her first season in Black and Gold in superb fashion, becoming the first Commodore to capture tournament medalist honors in nearly three years when she won the Brickyard Collegiate in early April. She capped the season with another stellar performance at the SEC Championship later in the month, leading the Commodores into match-play competition by finishing in a tie for 15th place in stroke play.
Baxendale earned four top-25 individual finishes during the regular season and concluded the year with a 73.37-stroke average.
Yu also ended her first regular season on a strong note, finishing tied for 19th at the SEC Championship after a fourth-place tie at the Brickyard Collegiate.
For the season, Yu produced two top-10 and four top-20 finishes. In her first collegiate competition, she posted a three-under par 212 total to finish 22ndindividually at the Mason Rudolph Championships at Vanderbilt’s Legends Club.
Farnsworth, a four-year letterwinner for the Commodores, has traveled to central Mexico on two occasions to work with children at an orphanage in Oaxaca, Mexico. She has also mentored junior golfers in the Nashville area, volunteered at women’s shelters and rescue mission efforts in Middle Tennessee, and visited ailing youngsters at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
Allen and the Commodores begin their quest for the 2018 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship on Monday, May 7 in Tallahassee. The Commodores will look to advance to the national championship by finishing among the top six teams after 54 holes of stroke play.
