KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Vanderbilt’s men’s golf team carded a first-round, five-under par 283 in rainy conditions at the NCAA Kissimmee, Fla. Regional, good for a fifth-place tie with North Carolina in the team standings heading into second-round play Tuesday on the Watson Course at the Reunion Resort. Junior Patrick Martin led the Commodores on Monday with a three-under par, 69, which ties him for ninth on the individual leader board.
Martin registered five birdies and two bogeys in his first trip around the Watson Course on Monday. Other counting scores for Vanderbilt came from Mason Greenberg, who shot a two-under par, 70 (T-16), a one-under 71 from junior Will Gordon (T-21), and a one-over par 73 from sophomore John Augenstein (T-41).
“I am proud of how we battled through the round today,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “It wasn’t our best golf, but we hung in there and fought. We had a lot of rain this morning and I thought we competed well in it. Mason and Patrick played big rounds for us and did a great job lifting the team up. I didn’t think we played the par fives as well as we need to and that will need to improve going forward. ”
Two Florida schools, Florida and UCF, lead after the first round of play after each team carded a 12-under par, 276. Third-place Kent State fired an eight-under par, 280, and South Florida shot a six-under 282, which puts it in fourth place. The top-five teams from the regional advance to the NCAA Championship May 25-30 in Stillwater, Okla.
Individually, there is a four-way tie atop the leaderboard with George Cunningham of Arizona, Chase Johnson of Kent State, and Juuso Kahlos and Bobby Bai of UCF each shooting a five-under par, 67.
The second round of play continues on Tuesday at the Reunion Resort.
“Everything we want is in front of us and we need to do some simple things better than we did them today,” said Limbaugh. “You get to choose what you focus on and we have to be tough enough to focus on the right things. We have to continue to be excited and enthusiastic about this opportunity.”
T5. Vanderbilt – 283
T9. Patrick Martin – 69
T16. Mason Greenberg – 70
T21. Will Gordon – 71
T41. John Augenstein – 73
T56. Theo Humphrey – 75
