SEA ISLAND, Ga. – The Commodores finished the SEC Championship on Sunday with their best team round of the weekend as the team counted three rounds under par in route to a third-round team total of 276. For the tournament, Vanderbilt fired a score of 852 (288-288-276) and finished in 11th place, with senior Charlie Ewing leading the Commodore effort with a final total of 207 (71-68-68), which tied him for 11th place and set a new Vanderbilt three-round stroke record at the SEC Championship.
Ewing’s back-to-back 68s on Saturday and Sunday gave him a Commodore all-time best individual three-round total at the SEC Championship and Vanderbilt’s best individual finish in Sea Island since Jon Curran finished in a tie for ninth in 2007. The SEC Men’s Championship has been held at the Seaside Course at the Sea Island Golf Club since 2002, and Ewing’s 207 is one stroke better than Mark Donnell’s 208 he shot in 2004 at the Seaside Course when he finished in a tie for second.
Ewing was in good company on Sunday, as sophomore Carson Jacobs matched the senior’s effort with a career-best 68 of his own, while junior Ben Fogler was also under par with a 69. Vanderbilt’s other counting score of 71 came from junior Hunter Stewart.
“I thought we did a good job competing out there today,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “We talked last night about getting back to playing Vanderbilt golf and doing what we do well. We did a good job of that today.
“The positives from this week are that we had some guys that did a lot of things very well. I am really proud of how Charlie played this week. Also, all the things we didn’t do very well are things that are correctable and easy to fix. We are looking forward to getting in the dirt this week and preparing for NCAA regionals.”
Number-one ranked Alabama won the team title by 16 strokes over second-place LSU with a final score of 806 (272-266-268), which is a new SEC Championship three-round record. The Crimson Tide’s Bobby Wyatt won medalist honors by seven strokes over Smylie Kaufman of LSU with a final total of 192 (65-61-66), which was also a new SEC record.
Next up for the Commodores is NCAA Regional Championship play on May 15-17 at a site still to be determined. Vanderbilt will find out their destination to one of six NCAA Regional locations on May 5.
11. Vanderbilt – 288-288-276=852
T11. Charlie Ewing – 71-68-68=207
T31. Ben Fogler – 71-72-69=212
T36. Carson Jacobs – 73-74-68=215
T64. Hunter Stewart – 80-74-71=225
T64. Zack Jaworski – 73-74-78=225
