Aug. 1, 2016
Vanderbilt will once again play one of the nation’s toughest schedules at some of the most well-known golf courses in the world in 2016-17, with their challenging slate beginning September 2-4 at the Pebble Beach Golf Links with seven other teams in the Carmel Cup. In all, the Commodores will play eight regular season events and the SEC Championship, which will have a stroke/match play format for the first time at the Sea Island Golf Club in Sea Island, Ga.
“Our schedule this season brings excitement and opportunity to our program,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh, who is entering his fifth season with the Commodores. “Every year, one of our goals is to play the best golf courses against the best competition. We believe this helps to test us and also helps us grow as a team. Ultimately, we want our schedule to help prepare us for a championship season.”
The Commodores’ fall schedule includes the Carmel Cup, which takes place for the sixth time this fall on the Monterey Peninsula and the world famous Pebble Beach Golf Links. Vanderbilt will then have a month off before their next tournament appearance at the Nike Collegiate Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas, October 2-4. Two weeks later, the Commodores travel to Windermere, Fla, to play in one of college golf’s most competitive events, the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational, and then wrap up their fall at the East Lake Cup in Atlanta, Ga., a three-day tournament that features stroke and match play that will be featured on the Golf Channel October 31 through November 2.
“Pebble Beach is certainly an awesome place to kick off the new season and it is one of the premiere tournaments in college golf,” said Limbaugh. “The NCi will be back at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth and is a great event that Nike Golf hosts. The Tavistock Collegiate is one of our guys’ favorite events each year at Isleworth Country Club in Windermere, Fla. We are also especially excited to be invited to the East Lake Cup to end our fall season. This will give us some stroke play and match play experience and will be televised live on The Golf Channel all three days.”
The spring season features one new tournament, the All-American Intercollegiate in Houston, Texas, February 17-19, and three that are very familiar for the Commodores, the Querencia Cabo Intercollegiate in Los Cabos, Mexico (February 26-28), the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Ga. (March 17-19), and Vanderbilt’s own Mason Rudolph Championship, which goes back to a three-day format in 2017 from March 31 through April 2.
“We added one new tournament to our spring schedule to start the spring in the All-American Intercollegiate in Houston at The Golf Club of Houston, which plays host to the Shell Houston Open,” said Limbaugh. “We then head to Cabo for one of the best tournaments in college golf at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate. We end the spring season with two of our traditional events at the Schenkel Invitational and, of course our home event, the Mason Rudolph Championship.”
The SEC Championship, which in the past has featured three days of stroke play, will now have two days of stroke play, and then two days of match play to determine the SEC Champion. Thirty-six holes of stroke play will be played on Friday, April 21, with 18 more holes of stroke play set for April 22. The cut will be made to the low eight teams for match play, which starts Sunday, April 23. The quarterfinals and semifinals are on Sunday, with the championship match on Monday, April 24.
NCAA Regionals take place at six regional sites May 15-17, with the NCAA Championship set for May 26-31 at the Rich Harvest Farms Golf Club in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur on the horizon
Will Gordon, Theo Humphrey, and Patrick Martin will each participate in the Western Amateur, which takes place August 1-6 at the Knollwood Club in Lake Forest, Ill., in one of the most prestigious amateur events in the country. In two weeks, Gordon, Humphrey, and Matthias Schwab will play in the U.S. Amateur August 15-21 at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.