NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt women’s golf junior Ava Merrill fired a 4-under-par 67 to climb into the individual lead while the Commodores solidified their positioning on the podium in the second round of the Mason Rudolph Championship.
Vanderbilt finished with an even-par 284 on Saturday, sitting 9-under for the tournament. Merrill closed strong, sinking five birdies on the final seven holes. Sophomore Angelina Tolentino finished 1-under on the day playing as an individual. She sits in third at 5-under through 36 holes.
“Ava was an absolute dog on the back nine and I’m excited about her opportunity tomorrow,” said head coach Greg Allen. “She knocked on the door several times last year, so I believe she can lean on that experience to help her tomorrow. I’m also excited to see how Angelina handles the opportunity as well.”
Lynn Lim and Elizabeth Rudisill both turned in 1-over 72 cards in the second round. Kathryn Ha finished at 2-over 73 while Tillie Claggett posted a 3-over 74 to round out the Commodores’ lineup.
“I thought we got off to a really good start today and made a pretty serious move to close the gap,” said Allen. “Then, we got really sloppy. We started missing greens and didn’t chip the ball very well. Which led to a lot of bogeys. I am proud of how we played 18 though to salvage a decent round. I know Mississippi state has a pretty good lead on us, but I’m very confident in our five young ladies and believe they have what it takes to go low tomorrow.”
Mississippi State leads the way at 17-under through two rounds. The Bulldogs finished 1-under-par in Saturday’s second round. The Dores sit second at 9-under and North Carolina is third at even par.
The Dores will tee off in Sunday’s final round at 9:45 a.m. alongside Mississippi State and Morth Carolina.
Live scoring for the event can be found on Scoreboard.