Golf After Dark: Signing Day Edition

Welcome to the Quiet Storm, your weekly does of Vanderbilt Golf coverage of only the prime cuts that makes all the ladies and gents bounce to the smooth beats of birdies and pars.

Today was an important day for golf programs across the nation, and the Vanderbilt Commodores Men’s and Women’s Golf Teams landed two recruits that will help them continue their elite program status.

On the women’s side, the Commodores signed Ariel Yu, the No. 62 ranked high school girls golfer according to NHSGA. Yu averaged 72.5 per 18 hole round this year and average over a stroke better than the course’s slope and rating.

Ariel hales from Bradenton, FL, prepping at The First Academy, a golfing power house in West Central, FL. They have won the state title the last two years, while finishing runner up the year prior.

Yu is not the sister of Louis Yu, the Junior three/four seed on this year’s team. She also has one of the best Twitter handles in the golfing world (@yuutheman).

On the men’s side, the Dores signed Cole Sherwood. Cole is the No. 1419 ranked amateur in the world. His highest ranking was 949. He attended Vandegrift High School in Austin, TX, so maybe he was looking to keep the first five letters the same in school choice.

On the course, he has had seven Top Tens over the last two years. In the more highly rated events, Sherwood has performed in the top third of the field, while in the the lower rated events, Sherwood has cleaned up, placing in the top five multiple times.

As a team, Vandegrift has won the state title in Texas three times 2014-2016, and state runner up in 2018-2019.

Both golfers show solid potential to improve the elite status of their respective teams, and to grow as individual players who have competed and succeeded at high levels of competition.