No. 15 Vanderbilt Women’s Golf returned to action at the Clemson Invitational in Sunset, South Carolina, from March 27-29. The field featured six top-30 teams according to the Clippd rankings, making for a competitive field in the Commodores’ final regular-season event. Vanderbilt earned a third-place finish out of 16 teams, and Lynn Lim earned co-medalist honors — her first-ever collegiate victory.
The 54-hole tournament was conducted at the par-72 course at The Reserve at Lake Keowee over three days. Head coach Greg Allen opted to start Sara Im, Elizabeth Rudisill, Ava Merrill, Angelina Tolentino and Lim, while Kathryn Ha also competed as an individual.
Day 1
Vanderbilt made great strides in the opening round, jumping out into first place following its cumulative round of 13-under. Lim made history on the opening day, carding a 9-under 63 to jump into first place individually — the lowest round ever by a Commodore. She played a near-perfect round of golf, cashing in five birdies on her front nine followed by four birdies on her back nine.
“What a day for [Lim],” head coach Greg Allen said after the round. “She made golf look easy today. What made her round even more special is the way her teammates reacted when they found out. It was really cool as a coach to see the love and joy they had for her.”
Two other Commodores found red figures to mark an impressive opening round. Merrill shot a 69, while Im shot a 70, collecting nine birdies between them. Rudisill rounded out the counting scores with a 1-over 73.
“[Merrill] and [Im] played really well and probably felt like they left a few out there, so I’m excited for them to get back out there tomorrow,” Allen said. “I saw a lot of good things from [Rudisill] and [Tolentino], and I believe they will get it going the next two days.”
Day 2
Vanderbilt dropped into third place after the second round, as no Commodores were able to push into red figures. Lim once again played a solid round, especially considering the tougher conditions on Day 2, shooting even-par to remain in first place individually.
Merrill followed up her great play on Day 1 with another solid round of a 73, while Tolentino and Im shot rounds of 74 and 76, respectively. The harsher conditions were certainly a factor in the number of higher scores, as a round of 67 was the lowest score by anyone in the field.
“The golf course played a lot tougher today, mainly because of the conditions, but the par-3s were difficult for us,” Allen said after the round. “We didn’t have as many birdie opportunities today. But overall, we hung in there and put ourselves in a good position for tomorrow.”
The Commodores were five strokes behind fellow SEC foe Florida after 36 holes, setting up a crucial final round.
Day 3
Vanderbilt couldn’t quite muster up the momentum to mount a late comeback on the final day, shooting 2-over to remain in third place behind Arkansas and Florida at the conclusion of play.
Lim took some hardware back home to Nashville, though, earning co-medalist honors with Arkansas’ Maria Jose Marin at 10-under. The senior fired a final round of a 71, which included three birdies and two bogeys, to earn her first collegiate victory.
“I’m so incredibly happy for [Lim] winning her first college tournament,” Allen said at the end of the tournament. “She deserves it so much. She’s been close a few times, so it’s great to see her finally get one.”
Merrill notched a 1-under 71 to finish in seventh place, while Im had the best round of the day with a 2-under 70 to finish in 17th. Tolentino and Rudisill finished with rounds of 78 and 80, respectively.
Now, Vanderbilt must prepare for the postseason. But first, an extremely important amateur event awaits Rudisill and Merrill: the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. The pair will compete on one of amateur golf’s brightest stages from April 1-4.
As for the entire team, they’ll return to action at the SEC Championships in Belleair, Florida, from April 17-21.
