Finishing Strong

Commodores rally to finish fourth at Collegiate Invitational

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Vanderbilt put together its best round of the week Wednesday and wound up fourth in the 14-team Collegiate Invitational at the Country Club of Birmingham.

Vandy’s 285 team score for the final 18 was 1-over-par and put the Commodores at 17-over-par for the tournament. They finished 15 strokes back of champion Clemson (+2, 854).

“I am extremely proud of the competitive character the guys played with today,” Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “We know when we hold ourselves to our standards we are a good team and we were closer to those standards today. The challenge is getting everyone to hold themselves and each other to those standards all the time.”

Reid Davenport (+2) fired a 3-under-par 68 on Wednesday to rise into a tie for 11th place. The junior carded five birdies.

William Moll’s 1-over-par for the tournament placed him in a tie for sixth and gave him a fourth top-10 finish for the 2020-21 season. Matthew Riedel (+3) was 1-under-par in the final round and climbed into a tie for 15th. Michael Shears (+13) finished tied for 60th while Harrison Ott (+17) tied for 74th.

Cole Sherwood, competing as an individual, was also 3-over-par for the event to tie for 15th.

Tennessee’s Bryce Lewis captured the individual title with a 6-under-par for the tournament.

“I’m pumped to see Reid play a great round today. He’s been so close and it’s nice to see him break through. We are a different team when he looks like he did today,” Limbaugh said. “Matthew also did a great job just battling and playing the front nine – which is the tougher side – 1-under. It was a total team effort and Harry showed some grit in how he battled it in.”

Vanderbilt, which has finished in the top five of its last four tournaments, now turns its attention to the SEC Championships scheduled to begin April 21 on Sea Island, Georgia.

“We have completed the regular season and now the page turns to championship season,” Limbaugh added. “That means a new opportunity which is fun and exciting. It’s up to all of us to have higher standards in our preparation and understand what it takes to do things the right way.

“I really like this group and we are having a lot of fun coaching them. It’s up to us now to do the work that is necessary to improve so we can be ready when it is most important to be at your best.”