In their second competition of the spring season, Vanderbilt Women’s Golf competed in the Moon Golf Invitational from Feb. 18-20 at Suntree Country Club in Melbourne, Fla. The Commodores finished fourth in the tournament with a combined score of +6, losing to Northwestern, Auburn and LSU.
Celina Sattelkau, Lynn Lim, Tillie Claggett, Ava Merrill and Virginie Ding competed in the tournament for the Commodores.
On Day One, the Commodores finished in 12th place with an ugly 7-over-par 295 score.
However, Sattelkau still put on a show with four birdies in her opening seven holes. Her torrid pace slowed down a little from there with two bogeys in the rest of the round, but she still finished the day with a strong 2-under-par 72 score.
Ding did not have her strongest performance on the second hole as a double bogey ultimately plagued her front nine. Ding bounced back nicely on the back nine, scoring just one bogey and eight pars to finish with 7-over on the day.
On Day Two, the Commodores shot a second consecutive +7 but conditions made the course tough to play for everyone. Thus, the Commodores finished the day in a tie for 7th place.
Ding bounced back, knocking in four birdies and just one bogey on the front nine. She slowed down on the back nine with 0 birdies and one bogey, but she still finished with a strong -2 score.
Sattelkau was once again a top finisher for the Commodores, shooting a 1-over-par 73.
Heading into Day Three, Vanderbilt needed some stellar performances to rise up the leaderboard. Claggett, Ding, Merrill and Sattelkau were able to step up and shoot some solid numbers
Coming off of a mediocre day two, Claggett treaded water on the front nine, reeling off nine consecutive pars. However, once she reached the back nine, she found a new gear, registering five birdies and merely one bogey to finish with a 4-under 68, which tied for the lowest score of the day. This performance launched Claggett up the leaderboard, as she finished tied for 20th.
It wasn’t just Claggett who had their finest performance on day three for the Commodores. Ding, coming off of a very strong 70 on day two, one-upped herself with a 3-under 69. She impressively did this on 15 pars and three birdies, meaning that she had zero bogeys on the round. Along with Claggett, Ding finished tied for 20th in the tournament.
Merrill, a freshman competing for the Commodores for the first time, also had a fantastic final day. She finished the day with a score of 71, highlighted by a birdie on the last hole. This was a pivotal performance for the Commodores, as it gave them three players who finished their day below par.
Finally, Sattelkau continued her excellent tournament with a round of even-par on day three, firing three birdies and one bogey but also registering a double bogey. Her solid performance on the last day was still good enough to secure an impressive eighth place finish overall.
While the tournament started poorly for the Commodores, their outstanding finish secured a strong final spot in the standings.
“I’m really proud of the way our girls came out ready to play today. They battled from start to finish and we got to see a glimpse of the kind of team I believe we can be this year,” said head coach Greg Allen after the Commodores’ strong finish.
Vanderbilt will be back in action at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate in South Carolina from Mar. 4-6.
