SAN ANTONIO – The Vanderbilt men’s golf team sits in first place at the Valero Texas Collegiate at the end of Round 1, as the No. 3-ranked Commodores finished the day at 5-under 283.
Vanderbilt holds a two-stroke lead over No. 10 Oklahoma and Florida Gulf Coast at the end of the opening round, as Vandy has a total of five golfers sitting inside the top 15 on the player leaderboard. The Dores lead the field in par-4 (+3) and par-5 scoring (-7), while their 22 birdies were the most collected by a team during the tournament’s first round.
“It is always exciting to get a new season started because everything is fresh and new,” said Vanderbilt men’s golf head coach Scott Limbaugh. “As a coach, you are always learning and watching guys define their roles on the team. Today was a good start and I certainly loved the way we finished.”
Juniors Gordon Sargent and Jackson Van Paris paced Vanderbilt during the first round of the Valero Texas Collegiate, as each golfer carded 2-under 70 to end the day in a tie for fourth. Graduate student William Moll concluded the round in a tie for ninth at 1-under 71. Moll posted his first eagle of the season on the par-4 No. 5 hole and he finished with the second-best par-5 score in the first round at 3-under.
Sargent, who is fresh off a perfect 4-0 performance at last weekend’s Walker Cup, opened the Valero Texas Collegiate by shooting under par on three of his first six holes. The 2022 NCAA individual champion ended the round with five birdie shots, which was tied for the second-most by a golfer during Round 1.
Van Paris caught fire towards the end of the back nine, as he birdied his final three holes to end the day at 2-under 70. The junior led the field in birdie shots with seven. Both Van Paris and Sargent enter Round 2 of the Valero Texas Collegiate just two strokes off the lead.
Senior Cole Sherwood and graduate student Matthew Riedel each shot even par during their first 18 holes of play on the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio. Each Vandy golfer heads into the second round in a tie for 14th on the player leaderboard. Sophomore Wells Williams, who is playing as an individual, ended Round 1 in a tie for 42nd after shooting 3-over 75.
“I’m proud of Jackson and how he locked in and birdied his last three holes,” added Limbaugh. “All the guys did some great things on a challenging golf course and there is a lot to build on. There are also some things we need to clean up over the next few days. A lot of our mistakes came from a lack of focus, so that will be the challenge moving forward. We need to keep having fun and have some conviction about the type of team we are going to be. I want our guys to be strong and positive about their beliefs in themselves and each other.”
Round 2 of the Valero Texas Collegiate gets underway at 9 a.m. this Sunday. Fans can follow along with live results at GolfStat.com.
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