SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Vanderbilt recovered from a mid-round funk Saturday and finished strong to put itself in great position to advance past Sunday’s third round of stroke play at the NCAA Championships at the Grayhawk Golf Club.
The Commodores shot a second-straight 282 and are 4-over-par for the tournament, two shots behind leader Oklahoma going into Sunday. The top 15 teams after the third round move on to a fourth round of stroke play Monday.
“I’m really pleased with how we finished today,” Vandy head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “It seemed like we got off to a good start then lost some momentum halfway through the round and kind of locked back in for a strong finish.”
Vandy got sensational play Saturday from Cole Sherwood and Gordon Sargent. Sherwood shot a 67 thanks to three back-nine birdies and Sargent carded a 68 with four birdies on his first seven holes down the stretch.
Sherwood was the leader in the clubhouse before the afternoon wave began their respective rounds and he remained the leader when all was said and done. Sargent goes into Sunday tied for second
Harrison Ott (tied for 32nd, +5) carded three birdies over his final five holes and finished with a 71. William Moll (tied for 42nd, +6) was 6-over-par Saturday while Reid Davenport (tied for 76th, +9) was 7-over-par.
“Harrison really did a great job hanging in there, getting himself putts and playing a solid round. Cole and Gordon were both really good today and continue to play at a really high level,” Limbaugh said. “Cole holed some big putts to keep momentum and Gordon is doing a great job staying patient and trusting his plan. Reid and William didn’t have their best stuff today, but they fought hard with what they had and we know they will be right there for us moving forward.”
Vanderbilt, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma were the first teams on the course Saturday, teeing off from No. 1 at 6:10 a.m. local time. The Dores finished their first nine holes at 3-over-par collectively and fell into a tie for fourth place.
Sherwood went out at 1-under-par thanks to an eagle on the par-5 fourth.
The Dores then turned it up on the back nine thanks to 10 birdies. Ott birdied three of his final five holes and Sherwood and Sargent combined for seven birdies.
Vandy is scheduled to tee off at 8:10 a.m. CT Sunday and will once again be paired with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State – the only two teams to shoot under-par scores Saturday. Live scoring for Sunday’s round can be found HERE.
“This is a long tournament and I think it’s so important to be fully present in each moment. There is no reward for focusing on the finish line. You can’t allow your mind to fast forward because you cannot skip steps,” Limbaugh said. “Sunday is another great opportunity to build more trust and try to take another step forward. I think we can be better in some areas and we need to have high standards for ourselves, have fun and play Vandy golf. We don’t have to try to be more than that because we know it works. We need to be excited to go try and take another step.”
Limbaugh a Williams Award Finalist
Limbaugh has been named a Dave Williams Award finalist, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced Saturday. The Williams Award honors the national coach of the year in NCAA Division I men’s golf.
Limbaugh joins Jake Amos of East Tennessee State, Andrew DiBitetto of North Carolina, Ryan Hybl of Oklahoma and Matt Thurmond of Arizona State.
Limbaugh has led the Commodores to a top-two finish in every tournament this spring and six wins. The SEC Coach of the Year fielded three All-SEC players, including Golfstat’s fifth-ranked golfer Sherwood, and SEC Freshman of the Year Sargent, both of whom will be representing Team USA in the 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup.
