EATONTON, Ga. — Vanderbilt’s impressive run of team victories came to an end Tuesday during the final round of the Linger Longer Invitational.
Vandy wound up in third place out of 16 teams as it faded out of contention over the back nine. Alabama finished at 14-under-par to win the event, beating out Georgia Tech by eight strokes.
“It really felt like the first two days we never had a ton of momentum, but managed to hang in there and finish. However, today we struggled to keep any momentum we had early because we didn’t do the little things at a high enough level,” Vandy head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “Success and winning can make you think it’s always going to be easy and you can kind of cut corners. We cannot allow other factors to control our identity.
“I am proud of how we fought until the end each day and nobody gave in. I’m super proud of William (Moll) and how he chose to see opportunity this week. He was excited to play and it certainly showed.”
Playing alongside the other three contenders—Georgia, Alabama and Georgia Tech—for the team trophy, Vanderbilt started to make the turn in third place only six shots back of Georgia and four behind Alabama. But the Dores struggled in the afternoon and dug a hole too deep.
The third-place finish snapped a remarkable four-tournament winning streak by the Commodores that began with a victory at the East Lake Cup in October and included triumphs at the John Hayt Invitational, Watersound Invitational and Cabo Collegiate, respectively.
While Vanderbilt as a team fell short of its goal, Moll nearly captured his second individual title of the season. Moll, competing as an individual, tied for second place at 8-under-par.
The Vandy senior missed low medalist honors by two shots behind Nick Dunlap of Alabama. Moll shot a 72, 66 and 70, respectively, for the event.
A 4-over-par round Tuesday left the Commodores as a team even-par for the tournament. Gordon Sargent finished tied for fourth overall thanks to a 71, his third under-par round of the event.
Freshman Wells Williams tied for 14th at 1-over-par, Cole Sherwood and Reid Davenport both tied for 24th at 3-over-par and Matthew Riedel (+13) tied for 62nd.
Jackson Van Paris, competing as an individual, tied for 29th at 4-over-par.
Vanderbilt now has a short turnaround before getting back on the course. The Commodores next head to the Calusa Cup in Naples, Florida, starring April 2. Sargent, meanwhile, will begin to prepare for the 2023 Masters Tournament starting that same week.
Vandy closes the regular season April 10-12 by hosting the Mason Rudolph Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
“How we take this week, learn from it and move forward is going to say a lot about our team and our leadership,” Limbaugh said. “I believe in this entire group and I love how they fight. We will focus on improving and finishing the spring season the right way.
“It’s always exciting to see who is going to step up this time of year. Thanks to all our supporters who showed up this week.”
