NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Successful performances at a national championship and top amateur event highlighted the weekend for Vanderbilt men’s golf. Rising junior Gordon Sargent not only made the cut at the U.S. Open, he finished as low amateur at the tournament, while classmate Jackson Van Paris claimed medalist honors at the Sunnehanna Amateur.
Sargent, one of 19 amateurs to qualify for the U.S. Open contested at the Los Angeles Golf Club, carded 19 birdies in the tournament while finishing in a tie for 39th place with a four-day 284 total. The Birmingham, Alabama, resident posted a 1-under-par 69 in the opening round and was one of four amateurs to advance to weekend play after following up with a 71 the next day. Sargent recorded four birdies on his opening nine holes Saturday—highlighted by three in a row before making the turn—while on Sunday he birdied five of seven holes midway through the final round on his way to another 69.
With the effort Sargent became just the sixth amateur ever to shoot multiple rounds in the 60s at the U.S. Open, joining a group that also includes Viktor Hovland, Scott Verplank and Lanny Wadkins.
Van Paris fired a 13-under-par 267 score over 72 holes to win the Sunnehanna Amateur by one stroke over Ohio State’s Neal Shipley. He opened play at the Sunnehanna Country Club in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, with a 71 that featured an eagle on the par-five 11th, but entered contention on Thursday after posting a bogey-free 9-under-par 61 as Van Paris carded nine birdies including four straight after making the turn. The Pinehurst, North Carolina, native birdied two of his first three holes on the way to a 68 in the third round, and was one shot better over the final 18 holes after recording eagles on both Nos. 6 and 11.
Jackson Van Paris captures the Sunnehanna Amateur! @SunnehannaAm @eliteamseries pic.twitter.com/FSVLphP2G7
— The Back of the Range (@backoftherange) June 18, 2023
Teammate William Moll, a rising fifth-year student-athlete from Houston, tied for fifth at the Sunnehanna Amateur with a four-day score of 270. Moll was under par in all four rounds—including a 5-under-par 65 on the opening day of the event—with 16 birdies in the tournament, with six of those coming over the first 18 holes and five more part of a third-round 67.
Former Commodore Luke List also competed at the U.S. Open, where he shot a 71 on Friday while posting a 146 total before the weekend, while Wells Williams—a rising sophomore from West Point, Mississippi—had a three-day score of 219 at the Sunnehanna Amateur after recording an even-par 70 in his last round of the tournament.
