ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The Vanderbilt men’s golf team finished in 10th place after 54 holes of the 2009 Southeastern Conference Championship at the Frederica Golf Club.
Senior Jon Curran and sophomore Adam Hofmann paced the Commodores in Sunday’s third and final round, both shooting two-over 74’s. Curran finished in a tie for 27th at five-over, while Hofmann was tied for 39th at nine-over.
Sophomore Ryan Haselden was VU’s top finisher for the week, coming in at four-over on Sunday after breaking even for the first two rounds. Haselden ended the event tied for 21st. Junior Hudson Johnson and senior Tyler Matthews both carded five-over 77’s on Sunday. Johnson placed 34th, while Matthews was 52nd.
The Commodores fell three spots on Sunday after posting a 13-over 301 to finish in 10th place just behind Mississippi State. Top-ranked Georgia won the event going away, cruising to a 13-stroke victory over Arkansas. Florida, LSU and South Carolina rounded out the top five. Vanderbilt finished ahead of only Tennessee and Auburn in the 12-team field.
Individually, Florida’s Billy Horschel won medalist honors at 10-under, defeating Mississippi State’s Carlos Sainz by two strokes.
Frederica, a Tom Fazio design, features a unique layout with dramatic elevation changes, and played 7,217 yards at par-72 this weekend. This is the second year that the tournament has been played at the Frederica Golf Club. The SEC Golf Tournament has been played at Sea Island since 2001, with six different league teams capturing championships in that period.
The Commodores will now await to hear if they will be selected to return to the NCAA Regional Championship, which will be held May 14-16 at various sites throughout the country.
