SEA ISLAND, Ga. – The Commodores tallied a second-round team total of three-over par 283 on Thursday at the SEC Championship in Sea Island, Ga. and are in second place on the team leader board with a two-round score of 559 (276-283), two shots behind leader LSU heading into the final round of stroke play Friday. The top eight teams advance from the 54-hole stroke-play portion of the tournament to match play, which begins on Saturday morning.
Senior Theo Humphrey led the way for Vanderbilt on Thursday, posting his second consecutive two-under par 68. The Greenwich, Conn. native has a two-round score of 136 (68-68) and is in a tie for second individually with Luis Gagne and Nathan Jeansonne of LSU and Wilson Furr of Alabama, and trails Cecil Wegener of Ole Miss by one shot heading into the final round of stroke play Friday.
All four of the other golfers had their scores count on Thursday, with junior Patrick Martin and redshirt freshman Mason Greenberg carding a one-over 71, while junior Will Gordon and sophomore John Augenstein each fired a three-over par 73.
Gordon is in a tie for 13th with a two-round score of 141 (68-73), Martin (71-71) and Augenstein (69-73) are tied for 18th with a 142, and Greenberg is in a tie for 61st with a 150 total (79-71).
“Today was a tale of two different nine holes,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “Early on in the round on the front side we just couldn’t seem to get any momentum. It didn’t look like we had a ton of energy and we were almost just going through the motions instead of playing the game. We always talk about that 6-9 hole stretch during every tournament when things don’t feel great and how we want to be a team that recognizes that, stays patient, and hangs tough during those times. I am proud of how we were able to do that today. We made a few birdies on 10 and 11 and that kind of got us going a little bit. Theo’s round today was about as big of a round as we have had this year in my opinion. He stayed patient throughout the day which allowed him to post a huge score for our team. I was also very proud of Mason and how he rebounded after yesterday to give us a big round.
The Commodores are two shots behind LSU and four shots clear of third-place Alabama, and 12 shots ahead of the cut line for eighth place. Currently, Ole Miss (4th), Auburn (5th), Kentucky (6th), Tennessee (7th) and Florida (8th) are inside of the eight-team cut line.
Vanderbilt will tee off with LSU and Alabama beginning at 8:10 a.m. CT from the Seaside Course at the Sea Island Golf Club Friday morning.
“Tomorrow is a big day because it’s the next step and it affects where we want to go as a team,” said Limbaugh. “I think it’s important that we play with enthusiasm and excitement about this opportunity we have right now. We need to do some simple things better than we did today and compete the way we know how to compete.”
1. Vanderbilt – 276-283=559
T2. Theo Humphrey – 68-68=136
T13. Will Gordon – 68-73=141
T18. Patrick Martin – 71-71=142
T18. John Augenstein – 69-73=142
T61. Mason Greenberg – 79-71=150
