WINDERMERE, Fla. – The Commodore men’s golf team finished in second place at the prestigious Tavistock Collegiate Invitational on Tuesday in Windermere, Fla., and two Vanderbilt players, senior Matthias Schwab and sophomore Patrick Martin each finished in a tie for the runner-up position on the individual leader board. As a team, Vanderbilt finished with a final score of nine-under par, 855 (286-283-286), while Schwab and Martin each carded a seven-under, 209, for the event.
Like the Nike Collegiate in the last tournament for the Commodores, the team championship came down to a showdown between Vanderbilt and Florida. However this time, the Gators came away with the title after posting a final score of 844 (283-277-284). The Commodores and Gators were the only two teams under par at this week’s event, which featured four of the top nine teams in the nation.
Vanderbilt finished the tournament first in par-four scoring (3.96), and second in par-five scoring (4.73) and pars (172), while Martin led the tournament in par-four scoring (3.80 average, -6 total) and par-five scoring (4.50 average, -6 total).
The 2016 edition of the Tavistock Collegiate was Vanderbilt’s ninth appearance at the tournament and this year’s finish was Vanderbilt’s best at the event.
Martin’s runner-up finish was his best as a collegian and his sixth top 10 finish of his career, while Schwab posted his second top five finish and third top 10 finish of the season. For his career, the senior from Rohrmoos, Austria, now has 11 top-five finishes and 16 top-10 finishes. He has also now finished runner-up or better six times in his career.
Freshman John Augenstein finished in a tie for 17th for the tournament with a final score of 218 (71-74-73), junior Theo Humphrey finished in a tie for 23rd with a 220 total (73-74-73), and sophomore Will Gordon ended the tournament in a tie for 30th with a score of 221 (75-73-73).
“We wanted all five guys in it today and we had that which was important,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “Obviously, Matthias and Patrick played exceptional this week. Their consistency in performance is really what makes them so special. I thought the way we finished today really took away from a hard-fought round. Unfortunately, it came at a bad time and ultimately took away any opportunity we had at winning. We had the momentum and then made a couple of mental mistakes and that’s all it takes on a course like this, especially when you are trying to catch a really good team. We simply didn’t do the things necessary to win.”
Florida’s Alejandro Tosti won the individual championship, finishing one stroke ahead of Schwab and Martin with a score of eight-under par, 208 (70-65-73). Schwab and Martin finished a stroke ahead of a trio of players – Andrew Alligood and Dillon Woods of North Florida and William Register of North Carolina.
Vanderbilt will close out its fall season October 31-November 2 at the East Lake Cup in Atlanta, Ga., at the East Lake Country Club. All three days of the event, which is a hybrid stroke play/match play format, will feature live coverage from the Golf Channel.
“We aren’t dissatisfied with where we are, but we know we have a lot of work to do in order to become the team we know we can be,” said Limbaugh. “It’s really a matter of paying more attention to the details and all of us doing our jobs more consistently. We will focus on doing that before our last tournament of the fall at East Lake, which should be a lot of fun.”
2. Vanderbilt – 286-283-286=855
T2. Matthias Schwab – 71-68-70=209
T2. Patrick Martin – 71-68-70=209
T17. John Augenstein – 71-74-73=218
T23. Theo Humphrey – 73-74-73=220
T30. Will Gordon – 75-73-73=221
-VU-
