PORTLAND, Ore. – The Commodore men’s golf team finished the second round of the Nike Collegiate Invitational with a three-under par, 281 and are currently in fifth place on the team leader board after two rounds with a total of 557 (276-281) at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club’s Witch Hollow Course in Portland, Oregon. Junior Will Gordon is the team leader after two rounds with a score of six-under par, 136 (67-69), which ties him for sixth individually after 36 holes of play.
Vanderbilt trails third-place Florida and Duke by two shots heading into the final round on Tuesday, second-place Oklahoma by eight shots and team leader Stanford by 10 strokes.
“I’m really proud of how we hung in there and finished the round today,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “That was really big and hopefully will get us some momentum for tomorrow. I think it’s really important for the guys to always understand why it’s so imperative to hang in there and battle all the way through the finish. We talk about that all the time and early in the year is when you kind of get to train yourself to do those kinds of things. We continue to do some simple things poorly where we just have these mental lapses during the round – whether it’s an uncommitted shot or a three-putt that just kills momentum. We have to start doing those things better if we want to be the team we know we can be.”
On Monday, the Commodores counted Gordon’s second-round 69, a one-under par 70 from senior Theo Humphrey, and a pair of 71’s from senior Michael Decker and junior Patrick Martin.
Gordon is joined in the individual top 10 by Humphrey, who is tied for ninth on the individual leader board with a total of 137 (67-70)
Brandon Wu of Stanford leads all individuals with an 11-under par, 131 total (65-66), two shots ahead of Oregon’s Normal Xiong.
“Tomorrow is important because it effects where we want to go,” said Limbaugh. “I am really excited to see how we compete and grow.”
The final round of the Nike Collegiate concludes on Tuesday.
5. Vanderbilt – 276-281=557
T6. Will Gordon – 67-69=136
T9. Theo Humphrey – 67-70=137
T24. Patrick Martin – 70-71=141
T39. Michael Decker – 72-71=143
T64. John Augenstein – 76-74=150
