NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt will be right back at it Monday when it begins play in the two-day, 54-hole Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational hosted by Texas Christian University.
Played at the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, the event is one of the premiere college golf tournaments of the regular season.
“It’s so exciting for our student-athletes to get to play on a golf course like Colonial against a championship field. This is why you choose to play at a place like Vanderbilt,” Vandy head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “We are so grateful to the membership at Colonial Country Club for allowing us to be there and for the way they support the event. It really means a lot.”
The Commodores are coming off an eventful three days in Birmingham, Alabama, where they finished first after 54 holes of stroke play at SEC Match Play presented by Jerry Pate. Senior Matthew Riedel was the tournament’s low medalist thanks to a 13-under-par 197 marking the first win of his college career.
Vandy faced Tennessee in a match play round Tuesday and fell 3-2 in a contest that came down to the final hole.
Riedel is once again in the Vanderbilt lineup this week and will be playing with Gordon Sargent, William Moll, Cole Sherwood and Reid Davenport—Riedel, Moll, Sherwood and Davenport all hail from the Lone Star State. The Colonial Country Club will play at 7,204 yards and a par 70.
“We have to continue to have high standards for ourselves and for each other,” Limbaugh said. “Our standards about doing things the right way have to come before our feelings. I think that is so important. Success can make you think that you can cut corners and have a disregard for doing the little things right. So that needs to be our focus this week and I know our guys will embrace it.”
Vanderbilt will be joined on the course by Arizona State, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pepperdine, Stanford, Texas, Texas Tech, Southern California, Wake Forest and host TCU. Fifteen golfers scheduled to play in the event are inside the World Amateur Golf Ranking top 30 and eight of the teams—including Vandy—played in the NCAA quarterfinals in May.
The Commodores are scheduled to tee off at 8:15 a.m. Monday and will play 36 holes before an 18-hole round Tuesday. Live scoring for the event can be found HERE.
“We are playing a great golf course that rewards players that have a plan and are tough enough to stick to their plan,” Limbaugh said. “It’s been awesome seeing different guys step up the first two tournaments and we will need more guys stepping up this week. We have a good team when we are excited and enthusiastic about playing, having fun and competing to our Vandy golf standards.”
Vandy Remains No. 1
Starting its 2022-23 season with a win in the Frederica Cup and a narrow runner-up finish at SEC Match Play, Vanderbilt retained the No. 1 ranking in the Bushnell/Golfweek DI Coaches Poll released Friday. The Commodores received 14 of a possible 16 first-place votes.
Oklahoma, Stanford, Auburn and Illinois (who won the inaugural Folds of Honor Collegiate at American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Michigan on Wednesday) round out the top five. Arizona State, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M and Florida complete the top 10.
