ST. SIMON’S ISLAND, Ga. – Cole Sherwood, Matthew Riedel and Reid Davenport each contributed even-par rounds Wednesday to start the SEC Men’s Golf Championships.
The trio, tied for 15th among individuals, helped the Vanderbilt men’s golf team to a share of fourth place heading into the second day of stroke play at Sea Island Golf Club’s 7,005-yard, par-70 Seaside Course.
“I thought today was a good start to the SEC Championships for our team,” head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “Most days, you tend to think it could have been better, and today was one of those days. However, I think getting off to a good start was very important for our guys, and they embraced that, and really played well getting going this morning.”
Starting their round on the 10th hole, the Dores made the turn at 5-under thanks to a 3-under showing from William Moll and Riedel’s 2-under effort. Moll went 4-over on the back to finish with a 1-over 71, ranking 28th among the field.
“The wind really picked up on our back nine and it played pretty tough,” Limbaugh added. “Reid was steady all day long and seems to be in control of his game right now which is great for us. Matthew was outstanding on the first nine then made a few bogeys in the wind on our back nine, but his putt on the last hole for birdie was big for him and our team.”
After going in at 1-over, Sherwood’s birdie on his 11th hole was followed by seven straight pars to make him the lone Dore with a back-nine ledger under par.
“Cole was solid today and he’s capable of really lifting our team up and I know he is starting to believe that as well,” added Limbaugh added. “William was really good for 17 holes, and we know what kind of player he is, and we know he will be there for us going forward.”
Collectively, Vanderbilt’s 1-over-par 281 was matched by LSU and six strokes behind clubhouse leader Georgia. Arkansas’ Segundo Pinto leads all individuals at 6-under.
Harrison Ott tallied one birdie during his 8-over round.
“I thought it was a good start for us and I also know there is another level we can get to,” Limbaugh said. “We need to play the par-5’s better going forward and continue doing the simple things to our standards.
“Everyone has a role to play. It’s important that everyone embraces that role and owns it. It takes all of us locking in and doing our jobs the best we can and having some fun. Tomorrow is an important day and we want to have all five guys out there playing with passion and enjoying our journey.”
Vanderbilt tees off at 7:20 a.m. CT Thursday with live results available at VUCommodores.com.
