Sept. 10, 2011
The 18th-ranked Commodore women’s golf team begins their 2011-12 campaign with a trip to Charleston, S.C., and the Cougar Classic, which takes place Sunday through Tuesday at the Yeamen’s Hall Golf Club. Eighteen holes will be played each day at the par-72, 6,205-yard layout.
Vanderbilt will be one of 22 teams participating in this year’s field, and one of five teams to finish in the 2011 NCAA Championship top 10. Teams competing this weekend are the host College of Charleston Cougars, Alabama, Charleston Southern, Duke, Florida, Furman, Georgia, LSU, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Richmond, South Carolina, Tennessee, UNC Greensboro, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, and Wisconsin.
The Commodores, who will travel senior Marina Alex, juniors Anna Leigh Keith and Lauren Stratton, sophomore Rene Sobolewski, and freshmen Irena Gabasa and Kendall Martindale, are aiming for big things in 2011-12, with the carrot of hosting the 2012 NCAA Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club dangling in front of them as motivation throughout the year.
“I’ve never been more excited about an upcoming season than this one,” said Vanderbilt head coach Greg Allen, who is entering his fifth season with the ‘Dores. “We’ve got a lot of depth this year, which we haven’t had in a really long time here at Vanderbilt, so we’ve got people competing for all five spots.
Alex, a 2010 first-team All-American and the SEC’s Player of the Year that season, leads the team and has played in every tournament since she arrived on campus in the fall of 2008. Keith and Stratton have two years of solid experience, while Sobolewski, who will play as an individual at this year’s Cougar Classic, played well at the end of her freshman season in May of 2011, especially at the NCAA Championship.
Newcomers Gabasa and Martindale have challenged the returnees in preseason practice rounds, and both will be making their first collegiate appearances. Gabasa, a 17-year old from Mandaue City, Philippines, has been steady throughout fall practice, and Martindale, from Jefferson City, Tennessee, is showing off a game that saw her claim the Tennessee Amateur and the Tennessee Open in the summer of 2011.
“We’re really excited,” said Allen. “We’ve had two weeks of really good qualifying, and we’re seeing some good scores. The girls are excited and ready to go.”
