AUBURN, Ala. — With one of two rounds below par on the day, the Vanderbilt men’s golf program moved up in the team standings following the conclusion of the second round of the NCAA Auburn Regional Tuesday.
Matthew Riedel was one of three Commodores to shoot par or better on the day at the par-72, 7,591-yard Auburn University Club, carding a 2-under-par 70. William Moll added a 71 and Cole Sherwood recorded a 72, with Reid Davenport finishing with a 73 and Gordon Sargent shooting 75 as Vandy used a 2-under-par 286 to move into fourth place in the team standings with a two-day total of 580.
“I thought it was a really good team round of golf today. We knew it was an important day, and our guys embraced it,” head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “It is so important on days like to today to have everyone in their round and fighting the fight. Cole got us off to a good start early, which felt important because we are a different team when he plays with that kind of attitude. Matthew and William responded really well after a couple of early bogeys and both did great jobs staying patient and allowing good golf to happen. Reid was really solid all day long and is doing a lot of good things in his game. Gordon played better than his score, and we know he will be there tomorrow.”
Riedel began the day with back-to-back bogeys, but bounced back to post two birdies before the turn and two after and is now tied for eighth in the individual standings with a 1-under-par 143 over 36 holes. Sargent is tied for 16th place with a 146 total, one shot ahead of Davenport and Moll. Moll led the Dores with six birdies in the second round, including three in a row on Nos. 15-17, with Davenport also carding three birdies after the turn as both are tied for 19th individually. Sherwood also had three birdies on the day in moving up to a tie for 35th place with a 150 score after two days of play.
Host Auburn posted a 283 team total in the second round and now leads the 13-team field with a 1-under-par 575 total. Chattanooga stands second one stroke behind the Tigers, with Colorado State in third two shots in front of Vandy. Ohio State rounds out the top five.
Colorado State’s Christoph Bleier has a 7-under-par 137 36-hole score after a second-round 69 and will enter the final day two shots ahead of Brendan Valdes from Auburn and Chattanooga’s John Houk.
Wednesday’s final round gets underway at 8 a.m., with Vandy teeing off on No. 10 along with Ohio State and Indiana beginning at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring for the event can be found HERE.
“Today was a good step forward, and we need to embrace the opportunity we have tomorrow,” Limbaugh said. “We can be a little better if we continue to trust ourselves, trust each other, and not try to force things. Tough teams with tough competitors understand that this time of year is about what you do, and it’s not about all the outside noise. We need to be excited for the day and keep doing the simple things at a high level. We really appreciate the fans that showed up today, we truly need their support.”
The top five teams and top individual not from one of those programs will qualify for the NCAA Championships.
