Dores Wrap Up the First Day in Florida

PALM CITY, Fla. – The No. 19/19-ranked Vanderbilt men’s golf team sits in eighth place at the end of the first day at the 2025 Valspar Collegiate Invitational, as the Commodores carded 8-under 560 over two rounds of play on Monday at the Floridian National Golf Club.

Senior Jackson Van Paris and junior Well Williams led the Dores through the first 36 holes of play at Valspar Collegiate, as each golfer carded 4-under 138. The duo opens Round 3 on Tuesday in a tie for 16th on the player leaderboard.

The Commodore golfers came out on fire during their first go-around the course at the Floridian National Golf Club on Monday. A total of three Dores finished the tournament’s opening round 2-under par or better, as sophomore John Broderick carded 2-under 69 in Round 1 to join Van Paris and Williams.

Vanderbilt opened its day at 10-under 274 and went into Monday afternoon’s Round 2 in second place. Vandy’s first-round score at the Valspar Collegiate marked the team’s second-best 18-hole score vs. par this season.

“It was great to see us get going in the first round today, and I’m encouraged by the competitive spirit we showed,” said Scott Limbaugh, the Thomas F. Roush, M.D. and Family Vanderbilt Men’s Golf Head Coach. “We had a little bit of a slow start, but the guys stayed in the battle. Wells and Jackson were both steady and confident all morning, which really lifted our team up. John and Ryan both did a great job staying in their rounds after slow starts, and both finished strong.”

Van Paris posted a season-low 18-hole score of 5-under 66. The All-American collected all six of his birdies on Monday in Round 1 and held round scores of 66-72. Williams concluded his opening round at 4-under 67. The junior collected an eagle on the par-5 Hole 13 and added three more birdies to his first-round score, then went on to shoot even par in Round 2.

Vanderbilt collected round scores of 274-286 on Monday. The Dores head into the final round of the Valspar Collegiate Invitational in eighth place at 8-under 560 after finishing Round 2 at 2-over par.

“We played solid in the second round, but we just didn’t do the little things to our standards,” said Limbaugh of his team’s play in Round 2. “It really came down to the par fives, and we didn’t take care of them like we did in the morning round. We have to keep learning and making sure we stay mentally locked in.”

The Commodores posted the second-most pars on Monday, as Vanderbilt collected 119 over two rounds of play. Van Paris’ team-leading 28 pars are tied for second-most in the tournament through 36 holes, while Williams is tied for the fourth-most with 27.

No. 2-ranked Texas sits in first on the team leaderboard. The Longhorns carded at 25-under 543 through the first two rounds of the Valspar Collegiate and hold an eight-stroke lead over No. 3 Arizona State. Oklahoma’s Jase Summy takes a two-stroke advantage over the field into Tuesday’s finale, holding a two-round score of 13-under 129.

Round 3 of the 2025 Valspar Collegiate Invitational gets underway Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. CT with a shotgun start. The Commodores open their day on Holes 5-8 at the Floridian Golf National Golf Club. Fans can follow the action with live stats by clicking the link here.

“Tuesday is a good opportunity for us and one that we need to be excited about,” expressed the Vanderbilt head coach. “When we are excited and enthusiastic about playing the game, we are a good team. Everything we want is in front of us, but we have to be focused on the things we can control.”

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