Oct. 21, 2014
Vanderbilt senior Hunter Stewart won medalist honors, and junior Carson Jacobs finished second at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational in Orlando in one of the nation’s premiere collegiate events, with the Commodores finishing second in the team standings, two shots behind team champion Florida State.
Stewart, from Lexington, Ky., finished with a final-round 66 on Tuesday and ended the tournament with a 13-under par, 203 (65-72-66), one stroke better than Jacobs, a junior from Hendersonville, who finished with a 12-under par, 204 (68-65-71). The win was Stewart’s third as a collegian, with his last individual victory coming earlier this season at the Carmel Cup. He used a blistering back nine to propel himself to the individual title, birdieing six of his last nine holes and finishing with a 31 on his final nine.
For the fall season, Stewart finished every tournament inside the top 11, and Jacobs had no worse than a 13th-place finish in the four fall events of 2014.
Freshman Theo Humphrey also had a stellar Tavistock Collegiate and posted his best finish as a collegian. He was the Commodores’ third individual in the top 10, and the Greenwich, Conn., native finished in a tie for seventh with a final total of 207 (69-69-69).
Senior Ben Fogler finished the tournament in a tie for 29th with a total of 215 (69-73-73) and posted pivotal birdies on his back nine that helped the Commodores in their bid for the team title. After posting a four-over total for his first 13 holes, the senior from Columbia, S.C., birdied three of his last five holes to keep Vanderbilt in contention.
In the team standings, the Commodores fired an astonishing total of 35-under par, 829 (271-279-279), which was the third-lowest 54-hole team total in the history of the program, and finished two shots behind the Seminoles in a hard-fought contest. The two teams battled throughout the day, with the lead exchanging hands between the two teams all afternoon. However, the Commodores could not overcome four Seminole birdies on the final two holes.
Vanderbilt knocked off five teams in the top 17, including defeating number-one Illinois by 12 strokes. The Illini entered the tournament having not lost a fall tournament.
“That was such a fun day,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “A lot of great players hitting great shots. Our team played great, unfortunately, they were a couple of shots better today. I am disappointed for the guys because they wanted it bad, but I know it’s another great opportunity for us to grow as a team.”
Notes from the Tournament
– Stewart carded his 18th top 10 finish as a collegian.
– Stewart had 19 birdies at the tournament this week, the most by a Commodore and the most by a player in the field. Jacobs posted 15 birdies, Humphrey had 14, Fogler 12, and Zach Herr four.
– Jacobs led the field in par-five scoring, finishing the event at eight-under for par fives. Stewart was the tournament’s best scorer on par three’s, finishing at four-under, and was also tied for first in scoring on par four’s at seven-under.
-As a team, Vanderbilt posted 64 birdies, which tied them for second with Texas Tech for the tournament. Florida State had a tournament-best 73. The Commodores were third in par-three scoring (even) and second in par-five scoring (-22).
-Vanderbilt finished second for the third time this fall.
“Hunter was simply awesome today as he has been all fall and continues to be our anchor,” said Limbaugh. “He has certainly established himself as one of the best players in the country. Carson was great this week as well and he will knock down the door soon. It was an overall team effort. Theo handled himself very well as a freshman today and I am equally proud of him. Ben battled hard as he always does.”
Done for the Fall
The Commodores are now finished with their fall schedule, and will return to the course February 14-15 at the Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.
“We really wanted to finish the fall strong and have fun and I think we did that this week,” said Limbaugh. “Our team proved to itself that it can play with the best this fall. Three second-place finishes this fall will certainly keep the guys hungry during the offseason. There are always lessons to learn and we all have areas to improve this offseason and that’s encouraging. I know this will motivate our guys the next few months.”
