Vanderbilt eighth after day one in Tallahassee

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Vanderbilt men’s golf team’s title defense at the Seminole Intercollegiate got off to a slow start Friday as the Commodores shot an eight-over 292 in the first round to stand in eighth place with 36 holes to play.

Starting off on the back nine, Vanderbilt was nine-over on its first nine holes. The Commodores rallied on the front nine, with three players shooting under-par for their final nine holes.

The Commodores are 14 strokes behind host Florida State, the only team to score under-par on Friday. FSU holds a seven-stroke advantage over second place North Carolina. South Carolina and Baylor are tied for third at four-over, one stroke free of fifth place Mississippi State. North Texas and Troy are one stroke ahead of Vanderbilt, tied for sixth at seven-over.

“It was a tough weather day and we got off to a poor start,” VU Head Coach Tom Shaw. “Tomorrow’s weather should be challenging as well, but the guys are excited about the opportunity tomorrow.”

Senior Chris Rockwell shot Vanderbilt’s low round of the day, an even-par 71. Rockwell carded only seven pars in the round, but used birdies on holes one, two, four and seven to make it back to even. He stands in a nine-way tie for 13th place in the field of 75.

Senior Hudson Johnson is tied for 22nd after an opening-round 72 that included an eagle on hole No. 1. One stroke back is sophomore Trey DelGreco at two-over. DelGreco made it to even-par after 12 holes before a double-bogey on the last brought him back to plus-two.

Junior Ryan Haselden was one-under over the final nine holes to salvage a five-over 75 and stand in a tie for 46th. Freshman Will Snipes shot a seven-over 78.

Individually, North Carolina’s Jack Fields is five-under and holds a three-stroke lead over five competitors at two-under.

Tee times for Saturday’s second round begin at 12 p.m. ET. The Commodores will leave from the 10th hole at 1:20 p.m. with North Texas and Arkansas.

SouthWood Golf Course, designed by Fred Couples, is playing at 7,143 yards with a par of 71 this week.