The Commodore women’s golfers are eager to show how good they can be.

That’s great, coach Greg Allen says, but it may have done them in during competition at the Mason Rudolph Invitational on Sunday at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.

Although sophomore Marina Alex shot a 5-under 67 to finish in a tie for second in the tournament, no other Vanderbilt players finished below par as the team finished in 11th out of 17 teams.

“I just think they wanted it really, really bad, and sometimes when you want things in golf too bad, it has the reverse effect,” Allen said. “And we made bogeys on holes you should be making birdies on out there today.”

Alex birdied two of her final three holes to gain a three-way tie for runner-up. She took particular advantage of the short par-4s at the course, the 324-yard 2nd and 311-yard 17th, birdying those three times over two days (play was held to just 36 holes after Saturday was rained out).

“She’s really gotten so much better,” Allen said. “She’s focused like I’ve never seen her focus right now. She wants to win a college tournament, wants to be an All-American. To be an All-American, you’ve just got to be consistent. The wins will come, but right now the consistency is what will make her an All-American."

The rain that cancelled play on Saturday turned out to be of assistance on Sunday.

“It kind of helped a little bit. The greens were softer so it made your shots a little more receptive,” Alex said. “You could go at the pins and not worry about hitting it over the green. Putts rolled really well. Considering how wet it was, conditions were as good as they could be.”

The competition was as good as it could have been too. The Pac-10, known for its outstanding women’s golfers, took three of the top four spots, with Southern California winning the tournament by going 16-under par as a team. UCLA finished in second place, with Duke and Arizona State, the No. 1 team in the nation going in, rounding out the top four.

“This is a really tough field, so if you have a poor day you’re not ever going to make up ground,” Alex said. “You’re going to lose a lot. You’ve got to be on your game.”

Although their enthusiasm may have negatively affected their play, Allen holds great hopes for the future of his young players.

“We want to peak in April and May,” Allen said. “The good thing about this team is our chemistry is awesome right now. The girls are really buying into what we’re all trying to do, and that’s getting better every day.”

“We’re a very patient team. The bottom line is we have a great group of young ladies who want it really bad, and once we figure out how to go out there and close the deal on the final day we’ll be fine.”