NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt has been awarded the No. 3 seed and will host an NCAA Regional at the Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs, the NCAA announced Wednesday.
The Commodores, winners of the SEC Championships in April on St. Simons Island in Georgia, will host 12 other teams and 10 individual participants for three days and 54 holes starting May 17. The top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team from each regional site will advance to the national championships May 28-June 2 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
“First of all, we are excited to have the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament and to host at The Golf Club of Tennessee,” Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “Our student-athletes have done a great job this year and it is an exciting time for them. They are pumped to have the chance to play in front of our fans here in Nashville at such an awesome venue.”
Vandy will face top-seed Clemson (the No. 3 overall national seed), No. 2 seed North Carolina State and fourth-seed Arkansas. San Diego State (5), Virginia (6), Charlotte (7), Kent State (8), Texas San Antonio (9), Houston (10), Florida Gulf Coast (11), Loyola Maryland (12) and Iona (13) round out the field. James Piot of Michigan State, Ben van Wyk of Augusta, Evan Davis of Belmont, Christopher Gotterup of Rutgers, Hunter Eichhorn of Marquette, Brandon Einstein of High Point, Hunter Fry of South Carolina Upstate, Timothius Tamardi of Appalachian State, Jesus Montenegro of Jacksonville State and Austin Devereux of Rider will join the field as individuals.
Vanderbilt is coming off a championship run in which it beat Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas, respectively in match play after finishing sixth in stroke play on the Seaside Course at the Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simons Island. The Commodores ended the regular season with four straight top-five finishes and also won the Vanderbilt Legends Collegiate in October.
“We are beginning our preparation today and our job as coaches is to help everyone reset and get focused on what we have in front of us and not get complacent,” Limbaugh said. “Our job is to help get our student-athletes focused and prepared so when the time comes, they can play loose and have fun. In my opinion, the teams that are the most together this time of year have the best chance to advance.”
Other Regional sites this year include The Sagamore Club in Noblesville, Indiana, hosted by Ball State, Seminole Legacy Golf Club in Tallahassee, Florida, hosted by Florida State, Championship Course at UNM in Albuquerque, New Mexico, hosted by New Mexico, Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma, hosted by Oklahoma State and Tumble Creek Golf and Country Club in Cle Elum, Washingon, hosted by Washington.
The Golf Club of Tennessee opened in 1991. Tom Fazio fashioned a course on 317 acres of rolling land in a quiet and pastoral setting. Featuring zoysia fairways, Bermuda roughs and A1 bent grass greens, the 7,184-yard, par-71 course sprawls over nearly twice the acreage of a traditional 18-hole course.
Fazio used all of the elements of design excellence with holes that are strategic and penal, challenging yet player-friendly and memorable but not contrived. The course’s natural beauty and topographic features are carefully interwoven to create an exciting golf course.