BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Senior Reid Davenport clinched a 3-2 victory over Georgia by winning 3-and-1 on Monday at SEC Match Play sending the Commodores to the championship match Tuesday against Arkansas or LSU at the Shoal Creek Club.
With the match tied 2-2, Davenport closed out Buck Brumlow with a birdie on the 17th hole to set up a possible rematch of the 2021 SEC Championship in May on St. Simons Island, Georgia. Vandy won that matchup against Arkansas 3-2.
Vanderbilt also got a 2-and-1 win from Gordon Sargent over Trent Phillips and a 2-and-1 win from Michael Shears over Nic Cassidy.
“Match play is really so much fun and it really teaches you a lot. It’s so important to stay in the moment, trust your routine, have faith in your teammates and have some fight,” Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “I thought the boys battled well all afternoon against a very good Georgia team.
“We got off to a good start and it’s good to see Gordon grab a big point for us. Michael and Reid did a great job trusting their games and keeping pressure on their opponents.”
LSU is leading Arkansas 2-0-3 with four of the five matches coming down to the 18th hole before play was suspended due to darkness. Those teams will resume at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday off on holes 14 and 18 until a winner is decided.
Vanderbilt began the day by finishing off South Carolina, the completion of a match that started Sunday afternoon. The Commodores won 5-0 thanks to a 3-and-2 victory by Cole Sherwood, a 5-and-4 triumph by Sargent, a 4-and-3 win by Jackson Van Paris, a 2-up Davenport win and 1-up victory by Shears.
Tuesday’s title match is scheduled to begin at 8:50 a.m. Live scoring can be found HERE.
“We appreciate all the support we had today and we would love to have the same kind of support (Tuesday) in the final match,” Limbaugh said. “It’s an important day as we try to take another step toward being the team we want to be. We know we will need to be our best because that’s what it will take.”
