NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt will be represented this week at the Tiger Invitational when a pair of Commodores compete as individuals in the three-day event.
Michael Shears and William Moll will each take part in the 54-hole tournament beginning Sunday at the Grand National Lake Course in Opelika, Alabama. The 16-team invitational features nearly 60 players.
Shears, a senior, last competed for Vandy in October at The Williams Cup in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he finished tied for 23rd overall and helped the Commodores to a third-place finish as a team. The Franklin native finished a season-high sixth at the Carmel Cup in September.
A junior, Moll also last competed for the Dores at The Williams Cup where he tied for 18th, the best finish of his season thus far. Moll has played in three events this season.
Shears and Moll will go up against a field that includes Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia State, James Madison, Kennesaw State, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, Missouri, North Alabama, North Carolina Wilmington, South Alabama, Southern Mississippi, Western Kentucky, Wichita State and host Auburn. Participants will play on a 7,289-yard course set at a par 72.
Vandy took part in the 2021 event as a team and finished tied for third overall.
Live scoring for this week’s event can be found HERE.
Golfstat Ranking
Vanderbilt’s stellar play in the month of February has earned it a top-10 position in the latest Golfstat team rankings.
The Commodores are now sixth after back-to-back wins in The Prestige and Cabo Collegiate, respectively. Oklahoma leads the rankings with Oklahoma State second, Arkansas third, Arizona State fourth and North Carolina fifth.
Cole Sherwood, the reigning SEC Golfer of the Week, is Vanderbilt’s top-ranked player at 27th nationally, according to Golfstat. Gordon Sargent is ranked 46th.
Dores on Tour
Former Vandy standout Matthias Schwab made the cut this week at the Puerto Rico Open. Schwab entered the weekend at 8-under-par and tied for sixth overall in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Brandt Snedeker and Luke List competed at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida before missing the cut Friday.
Later this month, the Korn Ferry Tour resumes its schedule at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open in Broussard, Louisiana. Former Vanderbilt golfers John Augenstein, Will Gordon and Theo Humphrey have been competing this season on that circuit.
College Golf Talk Podcast
Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh was recently a featured guest on the College Golf Podcast.
Hosts Steve Burkowski and Brentley Romine discuss Vandy’s recent play on the course and the Commodores’ big win at the Cabo Collegiate. Listen to the full episode by clicking HERE.
Toby Wilt Honored
Toby Wilt will be inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, as announced Friday by the organization
Wilt arrived at Vanderbilt on a football scholarship in 1962 and became a letter winner as a running back from 1963 to 1965. As his football tenure wound down, Wilt, who played high school golf, decided to try out for the Dores’ golf team. The Evanston, Illinois, native helped represent Vanderbilt at the SEC Championships during his senior season.
After his graduation in 1966, he went on to establish the Toby S. Wilt Scholarship. The scholarship has been awarded to Commodore legends and PGA Tour pros List and Snedeker. Wilt has teamed with Snedeker to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Wilt served as a founder of the Golf Club of Tennessee in 1991 and in 1998 was co-founder of the Music City Bowl. Each spring, Wilt is the subject of a national television audience as the starter on the first tee at The Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.
He was inducted into both the Tennessee Golf and Vanderbilt Athletics halls of fame in 2017.