SEA ISLAND, Ga. – It was an incredible day for the Vanderbilt men’s golf team on Sunday, as the number-one seeded Commodores once again made their final match of the day count with a 10-foot putt by freshman John Augenstein on his 20th hole to defeat the number-four seeded Florida Gators in the semifinal round of the 2017 SEC Championship on the Seaside Course in Sea Island, Ga. Augenstein’s putt moves the Commodores into the SEC Final Monday morning, where they will take on Texas A&M, who defeated Alabama in their semifinal match.
Augenstein’s 10-footer knocked off the Gators’ Andy Zhang, 1-Up, after the two had been back and forth all day. The match was all square for 10 of the 20 holes, with no player going up more than two holes. Augenstein was two up with three holes to go, but Zhang won the 16th and 18th holes to send the match into extra holes before the freshman’s match-winning putt on the 20th hole.
“Coach Smith told me before the putt, ‘Just like you do everyday,” said Augenstein. “And I said, ‘Yeah, just like I did at the Owensboro Country Club.’ It’s a thought I like to bring in when I have a putt that I need to make to take the importance out of it. But, it was an emotionally draining day. We had two matches come down to the wire that we had to have to advance and it was crazy. I’m tired and ready for bed. But we have one more hill to climb and 18 more holes.”
Vanderbilt’s other two victories came from Theo Humphrey and Matthias Schwab, who each led wire-to-wire in their matches. Humphrey defeated the individual champion from the Mason Rudolph Championship, Sam Horsfield, 2 & 1, and Schwab knocked off Jorge Garcia, 5 & 4.
“My heart is still beating fast. That was unreal,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “Even for us this morning, that was an emotional match and I was worried on whether we could reset our focus. In a good way, I was glad we were playing a really good team that way they knew that anything less than our best wouldn’t be enough. Our guys hung in there well today. I can’t say enough about Matthias. He made that putt his morning and was solid this afternoon from the start. Theo played really well and beat a really good player in Sam Horsfield, and obviously, the last match was one of those things where the ball ended up bouncing our way. We feel very fortunate. We’ve been on the other end of it, and I just commend our competition today. They poured their heart out out there. It was an emotional loss and an emotional win, but we’re thankful to see another day.
“This match play is like a different sport,” Limbaugh said about the walk up 18 with Augenstein in his match with Zhang. “It’s just really special. John makes a lot of those putts in practice. We do some drills at the end of our practices trying to build these scenarios, and he’s the last one standing a lot of times. He’s one of the guys I would have wanted to have that opportunity. It was a lot of fun. It was about as much fun as I’ve ever had at a golf course.”
The Commodores will look for their first ever SEC Men’s Golf Championship Monday morning in Sea Island, Ga.
“What a fun day out there today,” Limbaugh said. “Our team played their hearts off and we were able to get the win. We knew it would take our very best because we know they have a very good team. John made a clutch putt on the 20th hole and I thought he showed a lot of maturity in the playoff which was huge. Matthias and Theo had control of their matches and hung in there all day long. It was certainly a hard fought win. We pushed and they pushed back which is what we knew would happen.
“We have a great opportunity in front of us tomorrow. I want us to enjoy it, embrace it and have the right kind of focus on the right things. It should be a lot of fun out there.”
Semifinal Match Play Results
Alejandro Tosti defeats Patrick Martin, 2 & 1
John Augenstein defeats Andy Zhang, 1-up (20 holes)
Gordon Neale defeats Will Gordon, 3 & 2
Theo Humphrey defeats Sam Horsfield, 2 & 1
Matthias Schwab defeats Jorge Garcia, 5 & 4
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Dores win quarterfinal match vs. Ole Miss
Vanderbilt stages improbable come-from-behind win against Rebels to advance to semifinals.
The Vanderbilt men’s golf team notched a come-from-behind, 3-2, win over Ole Miss on Sunday morning in the quarterfinals of the 2017 SEC Championship in Sea Island, Ga., to advance to the semifinals Sunday afternoon. The number-one seed Commodores will face the fourth seed, Florida, at the Seaside Course for a place in the finals on Monday morning.
Advancing to the semifinals was no easy task for Vanderbilt on Sunday morning and clinched the match on the final hole of the final match. Matthias Schwab, who trailed the match by three holes at the turn, fought back against the Rebels’ Braden Thornberry to tie the match on 17 and won it on 18. The putt on 18 marked the only time during the match that he had the lead.
The Commodores’ other wins came from John Augenstein, who never trailed in his match against Josh Seiple, and Will Gordon, who was in a back-and-forth affair with Noah West all morning. Gordon was all square with West on 15, and then promptly won the 16th and 17th holes to win the match 2 and 1.
The dramatic win will now pit the Gators and Commodores against each other. The two teams are very familiar with one another – in fact, the two teams have played together in the same pairings in their last six competitive stroke-play rounds at the Mason Rudolph Championship and the SEC Championship.
“Our crew showed a whole lot of character and heart today!”, said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “Ole Miss certainly played great golf and deserve a lot of credit. Matthias was three down and was able to just remain patient and made a huge putt for us on the final hole to advance us to the next round. That’s why he is who he is! Also, John and Will played really well and got us two big points. We play a really good team this afternoon and we need to play well and enjoy the moment.”
Quarterfinal Match Play Results
Ben Wolcott defeated Patrick Martin, 6 & 5
John Augenstein defeated Josh Seiple, 2 & 1
Will Gordon defeated Noah West, 2 & 1
Kerry Sweeney defeated Theo Humphrey, 2 up
Matthias Schwab defeated Braden Thornberry, 1 up
