The Vanderbilt men’s golf team will begin their spring season this Saturday and Sunday at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. The Commodores, currently ranked third in the Golfstat.com rankings, will look to defend their 2018 Gator Invitational team championship this weekend.
The Commodores will send seniors Will Gordon and Patrick Martin, junior John Augenstein, sophomore Harrison Ott, and freshman Reid Davenport to compete in the field. Freshman Michael Shears will play as an individual. Gordon and Augenstein finished in a tie for fourth in last year’s event, with Martin finishing in a tie for 16th.
“We always talk about breaking the season down into three different seasons – Fall, Spring, and Postseason,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “We are excited that it is time to start our Spring season. I have been really encouraged with our attitudes during our offseason workouts, as well as with some steps some of our guys are taking in getting better. The fall season ended really well, however, we all knew there was plenty of room for improvement. That has been our focus for both players and coaches. Some of the improvement we have talked about is physical, both on the golf course and in the weight room, but a lot is mental improvement and an understanding of what each person has to do to help our team be the best team we can be.”
The Mark Bostick Golf Course will be set up as a par-70, 6,701-yard format for the tournament and has served as the Gators home course since the 1960s and has been the home to the Gator Invitational since 1978.
The Commodores will compete against Coastal Carolina, Florida, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, Liberty, Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Florida, Princeton, Southern Illinois, UCF, USF, and West Virginia.
Live scoring can be found on Golfstat.com throughout the weekend.
“After four months off from competition, we are all excited to get started again. We enjoy the Mark Bostick golf course and I think it provides a lot of challenges that help us understand where we are and where we have to improve. My message over the last couple of days is that it’s important for us to get our expectations down and our discipline up.”
Gordon Named To Hogan Award Watch List
Senior Will Gordon was named to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List, which includes 28 of the nation’s most accomplished collegiate golfers.
The Ben Hogan Award presented by Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) is given annually to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during a 12-month period from June to May.
This year’s list of 10 semifinalists, which could include individuals not on the watch list, will be unveiled on Wednesday, April 17. On Thursday, May 2, that group will be pared down to three finalists. The finalists will attend a black-tie dinner at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, May 20, prior to the start of the PGA TOUR’s Charles Schwab Challenge, where the winner will be crowned.
Ben Hogan Award winners have combined to accumulate 41 PGA TOUR victories and more than $200 million in prize money. Six winners are currently ranked in the top 100 in the Official World Golf Rankings—Jon Rahm, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay, Kyle Stanley, Ryan Moore and Peter Uihlein. Other recipients include: Ricky Barnes, Matt Every, Doug Ghim, Bill Haas, Chris Kirk, Hunter Mahan, Maverick McNealy, Patrick Rodgers, Nick Taylor, D.J. Trahan and Chris Williams.
Ott Profiled By Wisconsin Golf
Commodore sophomore Harrison Ott, the winner of the 2018 Wisconsin State Amateur, was recently profiled by Wisconsin Golf.
The article can be found here.
