After starting the season with a team win and then placing fifth at the Mason Rudolph Championship, Vanderbilt Women’s Golf finished ninth at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, this weekend.
The Commodores could not find momentum in the first round of the tournament, sitting in 11th behind UNC Wilmington after carding a 15-over 295. Sophomore Ava Merrill led the charge for Vanderbilt, posting four birdies to shoot a 1-under 69, leaving her tied for fourth place after 18 holes. Junior Tillie Claggett and sophomore Sara Im both shot 73 and settled in the top 25, sharing a piece of 25th.
“Tillie [Claggett] and Sara [Im] were very solid and probably played better than their scores show,” head coach Greg Allen said.
Merrill continued her strong performance on Day Two, saving par on the final two holes to finish at even-par and remain in fourth place. The Commodores shot a collective 11-over 291 in round two, improving to 10th on the team leaderboard. Junior Lynn Lim and first-year Angelina Tolentino both moved up the leaderboard after shooting seven and six strokes better than their round one scores, respectively. Lim came in with an even-par 70, while Tolentino carded a 4-over 74.
The Commodores jumped a spot after the final round, finishing in ninth place between Michigan and Virginia Tech. Merrill led the Commodores overall, notching her third collegiate top-five finish with a 1-over total in the invitational.
“What a great tournament for Ava [Merrill],” Allen said. “I’m really proud of how she handled the week. She played very consistently from start to finish.”
Im shot her best score of the weekend with a 1-over 71 as she tied for 26th. Lim carded the lowest score of all Commodores on Sunday, shooting an even-par 70 with an eagle to finish tied for 42nd place and round out Vanderbilt’s top three.
Vanderbilt shot a 34-over 874 over the three days, less than 10 strokes away from the top five. Despite steady improvement over the weekend, Vanderbilt failed to snag a third top-five finish.
“As a team, we’re definitely disappointed because this is a tournament we thought we could win,” Allen said. “But when everyone doesn’t show up ready to play, this is what can happen. We need to learn from this and make sure we get back to our kind of golf.”
Vanderbilt will look to bounce back next week at The Ally at Old Waverly, hosted by Mississippi State University from Oct. 21-23.
