June 23, 2016
The honors keep rolling in for the 2015-16 edition of the Vanderbilt men’s golf team after another stellar season and their second consecutive season in NCAA Match Play with a pair of freshmen, Will Gordon and Patrick Martin, receiving All-American honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) on Thursday. Gordon was named to the third team, while Martin was named as an honorable mention selection.
Gordon and Martin join junior Matthias Schwab, who was named to the GCAA All-American First Team after the NCAA Championship, as All-American team members this season.
“This is a big day for Vanderbilt golf,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “We are excited for these two guys to be named All-Americans to go along with Matthias. It was exciting to see Patrick and Will come in to our program and make such a big impact immediately.”
Gordon played in 34 stroke-play rounds and averaged 70.88 strokes per round this season, and was named to the All-SEC 2nd Team and the All-Freshman Team, and also to the U.S. Palmer Cup team, the only freshman named to the American team. He tied for first at the Schenkel Invitational (67-73-63), which included a final round 63 and became the only golfer in the SEC with two 63’s in 2015-16 when he also carded a final-round 63 at the SunTrust Gator Invitational. He posted seven top 10 finishes this season, with those coming at the Carmel Cup (T-10th), the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational (T-4th), the SunTrust Gator Invitational (6th), the Schenkel Invitational (T-1st), the Mason Rudolph Championship (T-4th), and the NCAA Franklin Regional (T-9th).
Martin played in 34 stroke-play rounds and averaged 71.18 strokes per round this year, and was named to the All-SEC 2nd Team and the All-Freshman Team. He carded five top 10 finishes with those coming at the Carmel Cup (T-4th), the SunTrust Gator Invitational (T-3rd), the Schenkel Invitational (T-7th), the Mason Rudolph Championship (T-10th), and the NCAA Franklin Regional (T-9th). He carded 10 rounds in the 60’s this season, including all three rounds at the SunTrust Gator Invitational, where he also posted a season-low 66 in the final round.
Schwab, Gordon, and Martin’s All-American selections push the Commodores’ number of all-time All-Americans to 13, with six coming in the last two seasons.
Gordon, Schwab to compete at Palmer Cup this weekend
Will Gordon and Matthias Schwab will compete at the Palmer Cup this Friday through Sunday at Formby Golf Club in Formby, England. The Palmer Cup is a Ryder-Cup type competition that pits 10 of the best U.S. collegiate golfers against 10 of the top European collegiate players. Schwab, from Rohrmoos, Austria, will play for the Europeans for the second straight year, while Gordon will be the only freshman on the United States team.
Vanderbilt and Stanford are the only two collegiate teams with two players competing this weekend in England.
“I know Matthias and Will are excited to represent their home countries this week in England,” said Limbaugh. “What a great honor it is for each of them and for our program to have a member of both the United States and European teams for the second straight year.”
Update on Summer Play
Several Commodores have already posted solid results on the amateur circuit this summer. Some of the highlights include:
Patrick Martin finishing second at the Alabama State Amateur two weeks ago at the Country Club of Birmingham.
Martin and Theo Humphrey finishing in the top 10 at the 63rd Annual Sunnehanna, a prestigious amateur event that was held at the Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pa., June 15-18. Both are also competing at the Northeast Amateur at the Wannamoisett Country Club in Rhode Island, which began on Wednesday.
Incoming freshmen John Augenstein and Mason Greenberg are participating at the Greystone Invitational this week at Greystone Country Club in Hoover, Ala. Will Gordon won this event in 2015.