SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — William Moll fired a 2-under-par 68 on Sunday to help the Vanderbilt men’s golf team move on to the final round of stroke-play competition at the NCAA Championships.
The Commodores enter the last 18 holes tied for eighth place with Florida State—both have an 853 54-hole total—with the top eight teams in the field at the end of Monday qualifying for match play at the event. The Dores and Seminoles will be paired with host Arizona State in the final round, with the trio teeing off on No. 10 starting at 1:06 p.m. CT; live scoring can be found HERE.
“I really thought our guys showed a lot of grit today. This is the survive and advance time of year and we advanced again today,” head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “The course was a little softer this morning, which obviously showed in the scoring. William showed a lot of resilience and just continues to battle with whatever game he has. Reid and Cole were both solid today and both were close to playing really good rounds.
“This was a really big round for our team. We have to continue to fight for momentum and then fight to keep it.”
Moll ended up with six birdies on the day, with four coming over his final eight holes at the par-70, 7,289-yard Grayhawk Golf Club. He moved to 1 under with a three at the 395-yard second, then carded back-to-back birdies on Nos. 4 and 5. Moll closed out the round with a three at the ninth, giving the senior a 2-under-par 33 after making the turn.
Both Cole Sherwood and Reid Davenport carded a 71 in the third round, with the former remaining among the top 20 individually with a 1-over-par 211 three-day score. Sherwood started out with birdies on the 10th and 13th holes for a 2-under total on his front nine, adding a three at No. 6. Davenport’s lone birdie of the day came at the third, playing at 475 yards, as he was even after the turn.
Gordon Sargent and Matthew Riedel shot 73 and 74, respectively, with Sargent birdying both Nos. 4 and 6 and Riedel adding birdies at the 13th and fourth holes. Vandy nearly doubled its birdie total after making the turn, posting nine on the front side of the course while finishing with a 283 group total for the day.
Moll will begin the final day of stroke play tied for 32nd in the individual standings with a three-round score of 214, two shots in front of Davenport and three ahead of Sargent. Riedel has recorded a 221 total thus far.
Illinois holds the team lead with a 6-under-par 834 total over 54 holes, while Georgia Tech’s Ross Steelman is atop the individual leaderboard with a 9-under-par 201 score. Pepperdine stands second in the team standings at 837, two shots ahead of Florida as North Carolina (841) and Georgia Tech (842) round out the top five.
“We have a great opportunity tomorrow, one we have to be excited for,” Limbaugh said. “Our guys are tough, they’ve shown that time and time again. We have to be fully committed to what we are doing and go play Vandy golf. That means you have to block all the outside stuff and do what you have to do to focus on the right things.
“This is a team day tomorrow and that’s the fiber of what we do. It has to be done together and we have to fight for each other. I look forward to our fans being there and supporting our guys with everything they’ve got.”
