PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Led by Harrison Ott’s 68, Vanderbilt finished atop the leaderboard after 18 holes Monday in the opening round of the Palm Beach Regional in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
The Commodores fired a 285 as a team and at 3-under-par are five strokes ahead of second-place South Florida. The top five teams after the 54-hole event advance to the NCAA Championships later this month in Arizona.
“It was great to get back into competition after a little break. I know the boys were excited to get out there and compete,” Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “I thought we did a lot of really good things and also some things that I know we can do better going forward. We wanted to get off to a fast start and I really thought we did a good job being ready to go. This course is very demanding and it requires toughness, good ball control and resiliency.”
Ott is in a three-way tie for second thanks to a 4-under-par round. The senior had just two bogeys in his opening round and trails North Carolina Greensboro’s Nick Lyerly by a shot going into Tuesday’s second round.
Cole Sherwood and Reid Davenport also found themselves inside the top 10 when the dust settled Monday. Sherwood (-1) is ninth overall while Davenport (E) is tied for 10th.
Gordon Sargent is tied for 22nd at 2-over-par while William Moll is tied for 54th after an opening-round 78.
“Harrison’s round was as good of a round as we’ve had this year. Super proud him and how he lifted our team up,” Limbaugh said. “Cole and Reid were really steady and patient all day and I thought everyone showed a ton of courage in how we finished. I’m really proud of that.”
Vandy started strong Monday morning and was 4-under-par while making the turn. Ott carded three birdies halfway through his opening round and held the outright lead.
The back nine wasn’t as kind as the Commodores bogeyed nine times and found a pair of double bogeys as well, but they finished strong with six birdies over the final three holes to rise back to the top of the leaderboard.
Vanderbilt is scheduled to tee off at 6:30 a.m. CT Tuesday and will play alongside South Florida and Notre Dame. Live scoring can be found HERE.
“Tomorrow is an important day and we need to embrace that,” Limbaugh said. “It’s important to have all five guys in it, having fun and competing to our standards. It’s about trusting yourself and believing in each other this time of year. I believe in this group.”
