Oct. 30, 2016
Four of the top teams in collegiate golf tee it up this Monday through Wednesday at the legendary East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Ga., in the East Lake Cup, a hybrid stroke and match play event that will be featured live on the Golf Channel for the three day event. Vanderbilt, Illinois, Texas, and Oregon will all compete this week in Atlanta.
The Commodores, who enter the competition as the number one team in college golf according to Golfstat.com, have had a stellar fall, capturing the prestigious Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational title, finishing runner-up at the Tavistock Collegiate, and fourth at the season-opening Carmel Cup at the Pebble Beach Golf Links.
Vanderbilt is led by senior Matthias Schwab, who has two top five finishes and three top 10’s, and his 69.78 stroke average. Sophomore Patrick Martin is next with a 70.33 stroke average, and one top five finish, with junior Theo Humphrey posting a 71.33 stroke average and a top five finish. Freshman John Augenstein has a 71.44 stroke average and a top five finish of his own, while sophomore Will Gordon, a freshman All-American last season, has a stroke average of 73.00 this season. All five will participate in this week’s event.
“This is certainly a great opportunity for this team to be able to play a championship course on national television,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “I think it says a lot about the support we have received from so many people. This event should help give us a lot of experience in match play that will be important during championship season, both at the SEC Championship and NCAA Championship. My expectations are that our guys will be excited about the opportunity to take another step towards being the team we know we can be. The final event of the fall is always important because it will be the last event the team will play in until early February, and it gives you momentum heading into the offseason.”
Stroke play will take place on Monday beginning at 10:55 a.m. CT, with the 18 holes determining seeds for match play on Tuesday. Match play will commence Tuesday, with the winning teams advancing to the championship match on Wednesday and losers playing in the consolation match.
Live coverage for the event will begin at 2 p.m. CT on the Golf Channel Monday through Wednesday.
Patrick Martin receives 2nd Annual Tom Cousins Award
As the 2nd annual East Lake Cup presented by Hewlett Packard Enterprise collegiate match play championship gets underway Monday, the event officially kicked off Saturday evening when two student athletes in the field – Patrick Martin (Vanderbilt) and Casey Danielson (Stanford) – were each presented with the 2nd annual Tom Cousins Award. Both recipients were presented with the award during Saturday evening’s East Lake Cup celebration gala. Danielson and Martin were selected by a panel of industry leaders for their accolades both on and off of the golf course.
A sophomore at Vanderbilt University, Martin (Birmingham, Ala.) was named to the 2016 SEC First Year Academic Honor Roll, in addition to being named to the 2016 SEC All-Freshman Team and 2016 All-SEC 2nd Team. After losing his grandfather to bone cancer in 2009 – the man responsible for introducing Martin and his family to golf – he decided to create a benefit golf tournament, inviting all to make a donation in order to participate. With the help of family, friends and local businesses, in four years the annual tournament raised more than $36,000 for the St. Vincent’s Bruno Cancer Center in Birmingham, Ala. Thanks to his fundraising efforts, the Cancer Center named one of their treatment rooms after his grandfather.
The award is named after developer and philanthropist Tom Cousins, who laid out a bold vision to revitalize the East Lake community of Atlanta by providing cradle-to-college education, mixed-income housing and community wellness to break the cycle of poverty to create a holistic environment. East Lake now acts as a national model for community redevelopment through Purpose Built Communities for transforming a struggling community into a thriving neighborhood.
Commodore Notes heading into the East Lake Cup
Limbaugh in fifth season
Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh, who is in his fifth season with the Commodores, has led Vanderbilt to 11 team titles in his tenure, with the Commodores capturing one title this season at the Nike Golf Collegiate and finishing runner-up at the Tavistock Collegiate. In 2015-16, Limbaugh led the Commodores to their fourth consecutive regional and their third appearance in the NCAA Championship – both program firsts. The Commodores have finished second and fourth, respectively, in the last two NCAA Championships in stroke play and have advanced to match play in each of the seasons. Limbaugh was named as one of five finalists for the Dave Williams Collegiate Coach of the Year in 2015, and in 2016, was named the GCAA Southeast Region Coach of the Year.
All-Americans
Matthias Schwab became the third Commodore to be honored as a first-team All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America, joining Hunter Stewart in 2015 and Brandt Snedker in 2004. Additionally, two of the five Freshmen All-Americans in 2016 were Commodores – Will Gordon and Patrick Martin. Gordon and Martin became the program’s first freshmen All-Americans.
#1
Vanderbilt is ranked number one in the latest Golfstat.com poll, the first time in the history of the program the Commodores have reached the top spot in the Golfstat rankings.
Schwab closing career strong
Senior Matthias Schwab from Rohrmoos, Austria, is considered one of the top collegiate golfers in the nation, and his play in the fall of 2016 has certainly reflected that idea. Schwab has finished in the top 10 in all three tournaments this fall, including a fifth-place finish at the Carmel Cup and a runner-up finish at the Tavistock Collegiate. 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. This season, Schwab has a 93.8% winning percentage against his opponents, and for his four-year career, he is an astonishing 86.5% against opponents.
Career leaders currently on course for Dores
Four Commodores currently competing on the course are four of the top five career scorers in program history. Schwab is the program’s all-time leader with 30 or more rounds played, with a 70.80 stroke average. Sophomore Patrick Martin is second at 71.00, sophomore Will Gordon is third at 71.33, and junior Theo Humphrey is fifth at 71.74 strokes per round. Fourth is current PGA Tour member Jon Curran, who played from 2005-09 with a 71.56 stroke average, and PGA star Brandt Snedeker, who recently went 3-0 at the 2016 Ryder Cup, is sixth with a 71.77 career average. Snedeker played for Vanderbilt from 2000-2004.
Augenstein fitting in
Freshman John Augenstein, from Owensboro, Ky., is already fitting in nicely with his more veteran teammates this year. Augenstein has tied Matthias Schwab for the lowest round of the season with a 66 in the first round of the Nike Golf Collegiate at Colonial Country Club, while also posting a career-best fifth-place finish at the tournament. He also carded a top 20 (T-17) finish at the Tavistock Collegiate.
Dores not afraid to go low
In 2016-17, the Commodores have counted 13 rounds in the 60’s on reknown courses – Pebble Beach Golf Links, Colonial Country Club, and Isleworth Country Club.
2016 NCAA Championship
The Commodores finished in a tie for fourth with USC in stroke play, and fell to the Trojans in quarterfinal action on the first day of match play. Individually, Matthias Schwab led the way, finishing in a tie for third.
