FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Vanderbilt pulled away over its final six holes Friday to take a commanding lead after 18 holes of the Mason Rudolph Championship at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.
The Commodores finished 18-under-par, registered a 266 and have a nine-shot lead over Tennessee and a 10-stroke lead over Middle Tennessee going into Saturday’s second round.
Cole Sherwood continued his consistent and outstanding play this season by firing a 63. At 8-under-par he leads Middle Tennessee’s Nick Wolf by two strokes going into Saturday.
Three of the other four Commodores finished inside the top 10 led by Gordon Sargent’s 4-under-par 67 – the freshman is tied for fourth. William Moll and Reid Davenport are both tied for seventh after a 68 and Harrison Ott finished with an even-par round and is tied for 32nd.
“We had three guys that had bogey-free rounds. Cole made some good saves early and then just got a lot of momentum,” Vandy head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “Reid looked really good early, hit one in the water on 10, lost some momentum but hung in there. Really proud of Gordon, showed a lot of maturity. He didn’t have a lot of momentum on the front nine but had a big up-and-down on eight and a big up-and-down on nine then gets rolling.
“With William getting back in the lineup for us he’s been looking really nice. For him to go out bogey-free today was a good step for him.”
The Commodores made the turn at 6-under-par and were tied for first with Cincinnati. Davenport played a clean first nine holes and carded three birdies to put himself into a tie for first place at that point.
Vandy then carded 15 birdies over its final nine holes to widen the gap between its two in-state foes.
Competing as individuals, Michael Shears, Jackson Van Paris and Matthew Riedel all had solid opening rounds as well. Riedel (-2) and Shears (-2) each fired a 69 and are tied for 13th overall while Van Paris carded an even-par 71 and is tied for 32nd.
Vanderbilt is scheduled to tee off at 11 a.m. Saturday and will be paired with Louisiana Tech and Tennessee. Live scoring for Saturday’s second round can be found HERE.
“It will be moving day at the Mason Rudolph and I think for us it’s about keeping our blinders on, having some fun and having the right competitive character,” Limbaugh said. “Loved seeing the black and gold out there today and would sure love to see that out there Saturday.
Commodores Ranked Third
Vandy is ranked No. 3 in the nation according to the latest Bushnell/Golfweek DI Coaches Poll.
The Commodores received one first-place vote and are behind Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, respectively. Arizona State is ranked fourth and Pepperdine is ranked fifth.
Vanderbilt is the top SEC team in the poll and one of eight squads from the league inside the rankings.
