EATONTON, Ga. — Vanderbilt hung tough Monday during the second round of the Linger Longer Invitational and put itself in position to contend for the championship Tuesday.
The Commodores (-4), in third place, are just two shots back of leader Georgia after a 2-under-par round Monday on the Great Waters Golf Course. Only Georgia Tech (285) had a better second round.
“Man what a battle from our guys today and I am very proud of that. Every single one of them fought and competed the way we take pride in competing,” Vandy head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “Obviously, we aren’t doing a lot of things as well as we want to, but that’s how it goes sometimes, but you just can’t give in.”
William Moll had one of the best rounds of the day of any golfer. Competing as an individual, the Vandy senior fired a 66 to move into third place and is only two shots back of Alabama’s Nick Dunlap for first.
Vanderbilt as a team was paced by Reid Davenport. The fifth-year senior carded a 67 and is tied for 11th at even-par going into Tuesday’s action.
“Really proud of the resilience Reid showed bouncing back today and proud of how Wells hung in there without his good stuff and birdied his final three holes,” Limbaugh said. “Also, super excited to see William play a great round and see him playing so solid.”
Gordon Sargent, tied for fourth at 4-under-par, remained in contention for medalist honors at 3-under-par for the event. The sophomore overcame two bogeys and a double bogey to finish with a 71 on Monday.
Wells Williams finished with a 71 and is alone in 10th place and Jackson Van Paris (competing as an individual) is also tied with Davenport in 11th. Williams was 1-under-par Monday while Van Paris shot a 74.
Cole Sherwood (+3) is tied for 22nd and Matthew Riedel (+8) is tied for 55th.
“I think we are trying to be a little too perfect at times and we have to keep learning from those moments,” Limbaugh said. “I need to do a better job helping the guys understand those moments and learning from them and I’m committed to doing that. We have to continue to own our actions because we know those determine our outcomes. You have to be able to embrace where you are in your own journey and that’s hard to do sometimes.”
Vandy will be shooting for a sixth team championship this season, and fifth in a row, when it tees off at 9:40 a.m. CT Tuesday alongside Alabama, Georgia and Georgia Tech. Live scoring for the event can be found HERE.
“I am excited we get another chance to play Tuesday and have some fun playing Vandy golf,” Limbaugh said. “It’s an important day and we need to embrace that and be excited to compete. It’s up to us to play to our standards.”
