The Commodores took their talents to San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico this weekend to compete in the Battle at the Beach tournament. They entered the tournament scorching hot, having just come off their first win of the season at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate on Oct. 9.
Vanderbilt faced a field of 17 teams made up of Arkansas, Baylor, Charlotte, Clemson, East Tennessee State, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Texas, Rutgers, Wisconsin and TCU, who hosted the tournament.
The event took place at the Club Campestre San Jose course, and played a distance of approximately 6,200 yards for each of the three days.Seven of the teams competing at the Cabo trip were ranked in the top 25 nationally according to GolfStat.com, including Vanderbilt, which sits at 16th.
On day one, the Commodores got off to a strong start. They finished the round even, landing them only two strokes behind Ole Miss, the defending champion of the tournament.
Tillie Claggett came soaring out of the gate, firing 4 under par and finishing the day tied for second overall. It was also a hot start for Virginie Ding, who finished 2 under par on Friday, date. The Commodores also notably led all teams in pars made (59).
Saturday was a bit slower for Vanderbilt, as they shot 4 over par and fell to fourth place in the tournament. The top three teams created some significant separation between them and the Commodores, as Ole Miss (-2) sat six strokes ahead of Vanderbilt headed into the final day of play.
“I’m proud of how we handled today because it very easily could have gone the wrong direction,” Allen said. “I’m excited about tomorrow and the opportunity before us.”
After 36 holes of action, Vanderbilt’s individual leader was Ding, who shot a two-day total of 141 and was tied for 11th place.
The Commodores bounced back in a big way on the final day of the tournament, as they shot 4 under par as a team, getting them back to even overall. This effort was good enough to get Vanderbilt back on the podium but, unfortunately, was not enough to walk away with their second consecutive win.
Vanderbilt finished in a third place tie with Ole Miss, while LSU (first) and TCU (second) were the sole clubs that bested them.
Celina Sattelkau had a career-low round on Sunday, Oct. 30, shooting a 5-under-par 66. This excellent performance propelled her to the lowest Commodore score for the weekend, finishing with a total score of 211 and tied for ninth place overall.
The Battle at the Beach marked yet another amazing destination that the Commodores got to hit at this fall.
“I hope we understand how lucky we are to be at Vanderbilt and get to do all the things we do,” head coach Greg Allen said. “We started the fall at Pebble Beach and are now ending it in Cabo.”
Vanderbilt wrapped up a strong fall season with a lot of great things to build on in the offseason. Not only did they lead the tournament in pars at 173, but they also accounted for 43% of birdies in round three of the tournament. They also concluded the fall with three top-three finishes in four overall tournaments.
“We did a lot of good things this fall, I believe we go into the offseason with a lot of confidence,” Allen said.
This team has shown a lot of promise, and it will be up to Allen & Co. to ensure they are ready to make a run in the spring.
Vanderbilt will be in action next on Jan. 15 at the Showdown at Whirlwind in Phoenix, Arizona.
