Feb. 19, 2013
The Vanderbilt women’s golf team’s ended their first tournament of the spring season with a second-place finish at the Central District Invitational in Parrish, Fla. Vanderbilt finished second behind SMU with a final total of 890 (299-289-302) at the River Wilderness Golf Club.
The Commodores, who led the team standings by two strokes heading into Tuesday’s final round, fired a 302 as a team and fell two strokes short of SMU, who tallied a final-round 293.
Senior Lauren Stratton finished in a tie for third on the individual leader board and ended the tournament with a three-round total of 219 (75-68-76). Freshman Jenny Hahn finished in a tie for 12th with a 224 (73-72-79), sophomore Kendall Martindale carded a 225 (75-76-74) and finished 15th, junior Rene Sobolewski ended the event with a 228 (76-74-78) and in a tie for 25th, and sophomore Irina Gabasa finished in a tie for 27th with a total of 229 (80-75-74).
Freshman Morgan Ransom played as an individual and carded a 240 (85-77-78, T-54).
“We sure gave that one away,” said Vanderbilt head coach Greg Allen. “I’m really disappointed with not getting it done today. It looked like we were playing scared at times. I don’t care if it’s the first tournament coming out of the offseason, we’ve got to find a way to finish. We can’t continue to give shots away. You also have to give SMU credit. They played well today and hit so many clutch putts coming down the stretch. They even had a chip-in for birdie on 18 in Stratty’s group.
“But, we will learn from this and move on,” continued Allen. “I’m proud of Irina’s effort today. She had a couple of doubles and kept battling, and for her to shoot a 74 with a couple of balls in the water, so I’m really proud of her effort.”
Caroline Powers of Michigan State and Natalie Wille of Augusta State finished in a tie for medalist honors with a one-under par, 215.
The Commodores are back in action at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in Hilton Head, S.C., March 8-10.
2. Vanderbilt – 299-289-302=890
T3. Lauren Stratton – 75-68-76=219
T12. Jenny Hahn – 73-72-79=224
15. Kendall Martindale – 75-76-74=225
T25. Rene Sobolewski – 76-74-78=228
T27. Irina Gabasa – 80-75-74=229
T54. Morgan Ransom – 85-77-78=240
