SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The No. 10-ranked Vanderbilt men’s golf team cruised to a 24-shot team win at the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate on Sunday afternoon with a final team score of 22-under-par 842 (268-290-284).
Senior John Augenstein claimed his second career individual title with a six-stroke win and final score of 15-under 201 (63-70-68).
The team and individual wins are the first of the season for the Commodores and the 30th team and 27th individual titles, respectively, in the history of the program. Since Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh’s arrival in 2012, the Commodores have 16 individual titles and 23 team championships in that time frame.
“I’m just really excited for our kids to end this week-long trip in such a positive way,” Limbaugh said. “We came here wanting to send a message about who we are as a team and I couldn’t be happier for our kids. Obviously, John played phenomenal golf and his leadership for the this team is instrumental and I’m thrilled for him. He really dominated the golf tournament from start to finis, and just happy for him to get to enjoy that.
“As a team, I’m proud of the way we battled. Matthew came out this morning and made a big birdie and William made a good par to end their second rounds and we carried that momentum into the final round. It was another windy day and I was excited with how we handled it. Harrison Ott taking more steps, Reid Davenport bouncing back from a tough afternoon yesterday to hang in there and give us a big round today and William Moll playing a big-time final round with the wind. All were good building blocks for a young team.”
Four Vanderbilt players finished in the top 11 for the tournament with Augenstein winning the tournament, Ott finishing in a tie for seventh with a 212 total (68-71-73) and Davenport (68-79-71) and Moll (69-77-72) finishing in a tie for 11th with a final score of 218. Freshman Matthew Riedel ended the tournament in a tie for 21st with a score of 223 (72-72-79).
The Commodores led the field in par-3 scoring, par-4 scoring, par-5 scoring and birdies while Augenstein led the field in par-3 scoring and par-4 scoring and Ott paced the competition in par-5 scoring.
Vanderbilt returns to the course March 17-18 at the Valspar Intercollegiate in Palm City, Florida.
“We had a great week and we’re excited to be heading home and see how Nashville is,” Limbaugh said. “Our guys wanted to play with some passion in honor of the devastation there and we look forward to helping out. We have another big tournament that we leave for in less than a week. We’ll get home and get rested but really enjoy this. I’m truly thrilled for our kids.”
1. Vanderbilt – 268-290-284=842
1. John Augenstein – 63-70-68=201
T7. Harrison Ott – 68-71-73=212
T11. Reid Davenport – 68-79-71=218
T11. William Moll – 69-77-72=218
T21. Matthew Riedel – 72-72-79=223
T45. Michael Shears – 72-78-80=230*
*Individual
