ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — For the sixth time in a row, Vanderbilt has advanced to match play at the SEC Championships.
The Commodores finished tied for fourth overall after three rounds of stroke play on the Seaside Course at the Sea Island Golf Club. They shot a 2-under-par 278 Friday to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Vandy won a tiebreaker to earn the No. 4 seed and faces Alabama in match play starting at 6:30 a.m. CT Saturday.
“I thought our guys were tough out there today,” Vandy head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “These days aren’t easy and I’m proud of the courage and fight we competed with today. We wanted all five guys in it and we got off to a great start which was big.
“There are certainly some things that we will need to do better to continue advancing, but this was a good start and we are excited about the new opportunity.“
Vanderbilt, the two-time defending SEC champions, entered Friday’s action tied for fourth overall. That’s where they remained after the final 18 holes of stroke play due, in part, to seven bogeys on the back nine.
Gordon Sargent led three Commodores who scored even-par or better. The sophomore shot a 68 and wound up fifth individually with a 54-hole total of 205 (-5).
William Moll also had another strong day and his third-round 69 placed him in a tie for sixth at 4-under-par. Cole Sherwood’s 70 on Friday moved him into a tie for 28th (+1).
Reid Davenport (+3) tied for 38 after a 71 and Matthew Riedel (+5) finished tied for 47 after a 72.
Tennessee stormed ahead Friday to capture the No. 1 seed ahead of Saturday and Tennessee’s Caleb Surratt finished 14-under-par for the tournament to win the individual title.
Live scoring for Saturday’s quarterfinals can be found HERE. Should Vanderbilt defeat Alabama it would face the winner of Tennessee-Mississippi State in the semifinals Saturday afternoon.
“We are playing a good opponent and we need to be ready to go,” Limbaugh said. “We need to adjust our minds to match play and be enthusiastic about playing from the start. We also need our fans to be there helping us and cheering for us along the way.”
