SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Commodores get to play some more.
Vanderbilt clinched its spot in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships on Monday with a fourth-round 289 and finished first in the stroke play portion of the event at the Grayhawk Golf Club.
Vanderbilt will face Texas Tech at 9:10 a.m. CT Tuesday in the quarterfinals.
“It’s going to be a tough match in the morning and one that I think our guys will be up for,” Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “We know the kind of team Texas Tech has, but really it’s about us and what we do. We got to reset and get our minds locked-in and really be ready to go from the jump in morning – and I want our Vandy fans out there ready to go.”
Before freshman Gordon Sargent wad crowned individual national champion, William Moll and Reid Davenport (tied for 47th, +13) both carded 71s to lead the Commodores on Monday. Moll finished in a tie for 11th with Cole Sherwood who carded a final-round 73.
Harrison Ott tied for 40th at 11-over-par.
“Obviously just so proud of Gordon and the courage he showed today and all week,” Limbaugh said. “Just says a lot about who he is and says a lot about our team just pushing each other to get better. What he did all week really helped our team so it was just a big day for him and a big day for Vanderbilt golf.
“Just really pumped for how our guys hung in there on a hard day. You just want all five in it and the course got really firm and really dry. For Reid to triple his first hole and birdie his next three was big. William was looking like the stud that we all know he is. It was a total team effort. We talked last night that we wanted to come out today and really make a run at that. That’s what we had done all spring. We didn’t want this last stroke play round just slip by us and us not stand up for what we want to be about. Excited that we did that.”
In first place after 18, second place after 36 and third after 54, Vandy turned in another steady day on the par 70, 7,289 yard course. It tied with Oklahoma overall, but won a tiebreaker to get the right to be the No. 1 seed going into match play.
Oklahoma will face Arizona State, North Carolina will take on defending national champion Pepperdine and Texas will meet Oklahoma State in the other three match play contests.
