Vanderbilt Women’s Golf began their season over the weekend at the 2023 Carmel Cup, hosted at the renowned Pebble Beach Golf Club. The Commodores competed with seven other Division I schools, including three SEC rivals, and claimed fourth place at the event, shooting 7-over-par as a team. Vanderbilt was led by sophomore Tillie Claggett, who finished ninth in the tournament individually as she finished all three days of the tournament shooting under par.
“This might have been Tillie’s most complete tournament from start to finish,” head coach Greg Allen said. “She seemed to be in control of all parts of her game.”
The Commodores started the three-day event on Friday, Sept. 1, with a solid opening performance, finishing 4-over-par as a team and tying for third place after 18 holes. Aside from Claggett leading the team with a 2-under-par performance, veteran Celina Sattelkau shot an even-par score on the first day of the competition.
Despite a strong start for the Commodores on Friday, Day Two of the competition proved to be a thorn in Vanderbilt’s side. The Commodores finished the second day sitting at 12-over par, with their performance on the day as a team being the second-worst out of the field. Freshman Charlene Chung shot her best score of the tournament on Saturday at even-par, but Vanderbilt’s effort still fell short of their opener.
Fortunately for the Commodores, the team was able to majorly bounce back on the final day of the competition, finishing with the second-best team score on Day Three. All five of Vanderbilt’s scoring golfers finished at or under par, resulting in a 5-under-par 355 performance for the afternoon. It was freshman Sara Im who stood out for the Commodores on Sunday, shooting her best round of the tournament at 2-under-par 70 and leading the Commodores. After a rough day on Saturday, Vanderbilt showed their resilience with a great performance to close out the tournament.
After his team’s first tournament of the season, Allen was excited by what he saw from his group.
“This team is going to be fun to coach,” Allen said. “If we keep working hard and pushing each other, we can do something really special this year.”
Vanderbilt will return to action from Sept. 22-24 when they host the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tenn.
