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Former Vanderbilt All-America Brandt Snedeker Wins New Year’s Invitational 1/12/2004
Former Vanderbilt All-America Brandt Snedeker Wins New Year’s Invitational Brandt Snedeker, a former All-America for the men’s golf squad at Vanderbilt and the reigning U.S. Amateur Public Links Champion, fired a 6-under par 66 in the final round of the New Year’s Invitational to claim the tournament title at 11-under par 288. His bogey-free 66, on the St. Petersburg, Fla., Country Club course, helped Snedeker rally past third-round leader and current Commodore golfer Luke List to pick up a one-shot triumph over runner-up John Holmes (10-under par 278). The victory is Snedeker’s third dating back to October when he picked up an eight-stroke victory at the Stocker Cup Invitational. Last month, he capped an extremely successful year with another victory at the Dixie Amateur with rounds of 69-70-70-69. Current Black and Gold freshman Luke List (Ringgold, Ga.) and junior Lance Goodson (Birmingham, Ala.) both saw time at the top of the leaderboard during the New year’s Invitational as the pair were tied for the overall lead after the first round of play. List also held the top spot following the second and third rounds of competition. The duo finished fourth (List/6-under par 282) and in a tie for eighth (Goodson/even-par 288), respectively. Another current VU golfer, junior Ben McClung (Ponte Verda, Fla.) finished in a tie for 24th at 296 with rounds of 71-72-72-81. List continues his stellar play from the fall season in which he registered four Top Ten finishes in five events. Included in that total were a fourth-place finish at the Country Club of Louisiana Intercollegiate, during which he shot a 7-under 65 to establish a school record for most shots under par in a single round, as well as 10th-place finishes at the Mason Rudolph, SMU Stonebridge Invitational and the Coca-Cola Tournament of Champions. Vanderbilt’s Lance Goodson (Birmingham, Ala.) posted two Top Ten finishes during the fall season as the junior shot an even-par 142 to rank sixth at the Mason Rudolph and carded a 4-under total of 212 at the Coca-Cola Tournament of Champions to finish in a tie for eighth as VU captured the team title. McClung posted two rounds of 71 in the fall campaign and registered a tie for 15th at the Coca-Cola Tourney with a 1-under par 215. The New Year’s Invitational was played on the course at the St. Petersburg Country Club (estab. 1924), former host to an annual stop on the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour, the St. Petersburg Open from 1937-1964. The VU men’s golf program will open the spring season on Feb. 8-10 at the Sawgrass Invitational in Ponte Verda, Fla. The Commodores are hoping to add to the success gained during the fall campaign in which the Black and Gold posted three top-five team finishes and grabbed the title at the Coca-Cola Tournament of Champions in Knoxville, Tenn., with a 15-under par total of 849.
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