SEA ISLAND, Ga. — Four Commodores shot their best rounds of the weekend Sunday as Vanderbilt finished seventh in the 2007 Southeastern Conference Championships, hosted at the Sea Island Golf Club.
Sophomore Jon Curran registered a Top 10 finish in the event, despite not scoring for the team on Sunday. The Hopkinton, Mass., native was even through 11 holes (two birdies, two bogeys) before playing the next three holes at five-over to end in a seven-way tie for ninth place.
The remainder of the Commodore lineup combined to shoot nine-over on the day. Sophomore Tyler Matthews led the way with a one-over 71 — shaving four strokes off his Saturday total — to finish in a tie for 33rd.
Junior Billy Whalen shot a two-over 72 to finish in a tie for 23rd place. Whalen had Vanderbilt’s second- or third-best round each day of the tournament.
Senior Luke List carded a three-over 73 on Sunday, finishing at plus-15 for the week. He finished in 37th place, missing a Top 20 finish at the SEC Championships for the only time in his VU career.
Senior Dos Goldsmith also shot a three-over 73 in the final round, taking six strokes off his score from the previous day to finish in a tie for 40th place.
“We fought hard all weekend and battled well,” VU Head Coach Tom Shaw said. “But we weren’t quite running on all cylinders. We had a pretty deep lineup this week. If our top two guys (List and Curran) finish like they did last week in Raleigh, with the addition of how our 3-5 guys played, we’re looking at doing some special things this week. All-in-all it was a very positive week.
“I think we had a real opportunity presented to us today to make a statement,” Shaw explained. “And we did that for the first nine holes. We backtracked a bit — Jon had a bad stretch that sealed his fate and our other guys played the last three or four holes poorly. We had a chance to beat the No. 1 team in the country (Georgia), but didn’t seize it.”
Vanderbilt now awaits word on its postseason fate. Shaw, in his first year at Vanderbilt, is looking to take the Commodores back to the NCAA Regional for the fourth time in five seasons.
“It’s in the committee’s hands now,” Shaw commented. “We would like to see an at-large bid when the NCAA field is announced. We have a head-to-head advantage against the teams that we’re competing against for an at-large bid out of our region.”
Tennessee won the team title at plus-29. The Volunteers held a two-stroke lead coming into Sunday’s final round and kept pace with the third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide to claim the victory.
Third-place Auburn had Sunday’s best showing, a two-over 282 — the low round of the three-day event.
Ole Miss, ninth-ranked Florida and top-ranked Georgia rounded out the top six. The Bulldogs were only three strokes ahead of Vanderbilt.
The seventh-place Commodores beat regional rival South Carolina by three strokes. Louisiana State, Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi State rounded out the field.
Auburn’s Patton Kizzire earned individual medalist honors by a four-stroke margin. His even-par round was good enough to beat UT’s Chris Paisley and Tino Weiss, both at five-over for the tournament.
Alabama’s Michael Thompson shot the low round of the tournament on Sunday — a three-under 67 — which edged Curran’s Saturday score by one stroke.
The tournament was held on Sea Island’s par-70, 6,991-yard Seaside Course.
FINAL TEAM RESULTS
1. Tennessee +29 301-283-285–869
2. Alabama +31 298-288-285–871
3. Auburn +34 304-288-282–874
4. Mississippi +36 295-293-288–876
5. Florida +38 304-284-290–878
6. Georgia +43 309-289-286–883
7. Vanderbilt +46 302-295-289–886
8. South Carolina +49 304-297-288–889
9. Louisiana State +52 301-297-294–892
10. Arkansas +57 316-295-286–897
11. Kentucky +61 312-293-296–901
12. Mississippi State +73 304-307-302–913
VANDERBILT INDIVIDUALS
T9. Jon Curran +9 76-68-75–219
T23. Billy Whalen +12 77-73-72–222
T33. Tyler Matthews +14 78-75-71–224
37. Luke List +15 73-79-73–225
T40. Dos Goldsmith +18 76-79-73–228
