Golfing in Gainesville

Commodores surge during second round to remain in contention

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Vanderbilt men’s golf team finished a long day of Friday with a late surge to put itself in contention going into Saturday’s action.

Vandy shot 9-under-par during part of its second round to move into seventh place before play was suspended due to darkness.

“The officials at the University of Florida did a great job. We were trying to get as much golf in as we could today,” Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “Now it’s just about getting rest. We pride our team on being the best at the end of days like today when everything wants to tell you to get tired and focus on that. I just think that says a lot about the character of our young team.

“It was a mentally, physically and emotionally tiring day.”

The Vanderbilt squad of Harrison Ott, Matthew Riedel, William Moll and Reid Davenport completed 12 holes of their respective second rounds while Michael Shears finished 15. Cole Sherwood, competing as an individual, also finished 12 holes of his second 18.

Moll and Davenport led the way for the Dores with each standing at 4-under par for the tournament and are both tied for eighth place. Georgia’s Trent Phillips leads the field at 9-under through his 36 holes.

Ott shot a 3-under and is tied for 20th while Riedel is tied for 42nd (-1) and Shears is tied for 62nd (+1). Sherwood is 4-over-par and tied for 97th.

The Commodores as a team are eight strokes back of leader Georgia is currently 20-under.

“I thought (Riedel) was solid all day,” Limbaugh said. “Really thought (Moll), it was big, he was 3-over-par through 10 holes and fought his way back in there to shoot even in the first round. (Davenport’s) looked really in control and Ott – was proud of the way he hung in there all day.”

Vanderbilt started the tournament with an early shotgun start for its first 18 holes. The Commodores shot 3-under as a team – eight strokes back of leader Georgia – and Riedel finished his first round with a 2-under-par 68.

Ott was one stroke behind Riedel while Moll, Davenport and Shears all finished with an even 70.

Saturday’s play is scheduled to resume at 7 a.m. CT with a shotgun start and teams will then also attempt to start – and finish – their third rounds before forecasted rain moves into the area.

“I think it’s really important for us to bring the energy and the focus we had at the end of the day Friday and start with that Saturday and to be really mentally tough enough to only focus on the things we can control,” Limbaugh said.

Dores Second in Golfweek Poll

Vanderbilt is the No. 2-ranked team in the nation according to the latest Division I Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll, released Friday.

The Commodores received four first-place votes and were 25 points behind No. 1 Oklahoma. Arizona State, Tennessee and Pepperdine, respectively, rounded out the top five.