ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The No. 18/17-ranked Vanderbilt men’s golf team ended its run at the 2025 SEC Men’s Golf Championship on Friday, as the Commodores closed stroke play in 13th place with a three-round total of 4-over 844.
The Dores finished under par as a team for the second-straight day in Round 3 of the SEC Championship, as Vandy concluded Friday at 3-under 277. The Commodores held round scores of 292-275-277 to end their stay at Sea Island Golf Club at 4-over. Vanderbilt carded 8-under 552 over its final 36 holes, which was the seventh-best team score over the final two rounds of play.
“I thought our boys were tough for the most part today, and I’m really proud of the fight and resilience we showed,” said Thomas F. Roush, M.D., and Family Vanderbilt Men’s Golf Head Coach Scott Limbaugh. “You kind of get what you deserve, and you don’t always get what you want. The way we started the tournament, I would relate it to a football game, where you come out and turn it over a couple of times in the first quarter, and one of them is a pick-six. The next thing you know, you’re on your heels. That’s what we did over our first nine holes of this golf tournament. Therefore, we were pinned back, and we’re playing a whole bunch of good teams. That is the disappointing part, and a lot of that falls on the coaching staff’s shoulders. You’ve got to bring it in a tournament like this. We understand the things we have to get better at, and the players have to take ownership of that.”
Senior Jackson Van Paris concluded his final SEC Championship in a tie for 22nd on the player leaderboard at 3-under 207. The Pinehurst, North Carolina, native carded under par for the second-consecutive day on Friday, as he finished at 1-under 69. The senior ended the tournament with round scores of 73-65-69.
Freshman Ryan Downes also registered his second-straight round of par-or-better on the tournament’s final day. The Longmeadow, Massachusetts native matched Van Paris’ total in Round 3, as Downes also ended play at 1-under 69. The freshman finished in a tie for 37th in his first appearance at the SEC Championship, holding a three-round total of 1-over 211.
Junior Wells Williams carded a team-best 2-under 68 on Friday to end the tournament in a tie for 45th at 2-over 212. Williams, who opened the day on Hole 10, collected all four of his birdies in Round 3 over the course of seven holes, as he finished 1-under on Holes 14, 15, 17 and 2.
No. 2-ranked Auburn won stroke play at the 2025 SEC Championship. The Tigers held a three-day total of 38-under 802 to earn the tournament’s No. 1 seed going into match play. Auburn’s Jackson Koivun became the first repeat individual champion at the SEC Championship in 49 years, as he carded 12-under 198 to win the tournament by one stroke over Oklahoma’s Drew Goodman.
The eight teams to advance to match play at the 2025 SEC Championship are Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. The quarterfinal and semifinal matches take place Saturday, starting at 6:30 a.m. CT. The 2025 SEC Men’s Golf Championship is set for Sunday at 7 a.m. CT.
“This is the first time we’ve ever missed match play at this tournament, so that’s new,” Limbaugh stated. “We’re on our own little journey. Not some journey that was done by the people before us. We’ve got to embrace where we are. We’ve got some guys improving. Ryan Downes is getting better each time out. Chase Nevins is getting more consistent and understanding. Wells had a strong finish to his tournament, Jackson was rock solid, and Gordon showed lots of positive signs, but couldn’t put it all together. We’re getting better, but we’ve got to get tough for NCAAs. We’ve got to be a tougher team, be ready, and have guys continue to step up.”
The Vanderbilt men’s golf team will now play the waiting game to find out where they will be heading for the 2025 NCAA Men’s Golf Regionals. The NCAA Regional Selection Show will be held on April 30 at noon CT on Golf Channel.
“I’m excited for the NCAAs, and we’ll see where we are going next week,” expressed Limbaugh. “We’ve got some work to do over the next couple of weeks. We’ve got to focus on the right things.”
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