NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Coming off one of its more-impressive performances in program history, the Vanderbilt men’s golf team will look to end its fall season with some momentum starting Sunday at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Birmingham, Alabama.
Vandy recently blitzed the competition at the Vanderbilt Legends Collegiate (Oct. 25-27) by posting a 39-under. The three-day event included Vanderbilt’s lowest team score for a second round in program history and the second-lowest team total over 54 holes in program history.
The Commodores will try to continue that type of play going against another SEC-exclusive field.
“Our focus the last 10 days has been on improving and trying to finish this fall season the right way,” Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “In my opinion, it’s always important to do the things it takes to finish the fall the right way so we can carry momentum into the offseason.
“We had some success in our last tournament, which was exciting, but the challenge now is to kind of turn the page and move forward mentally so we can become a better team. Can our guys continue to play the next shot and not dwell on the previous shot? Can we continue to have better self-talk and self-awareness? Those are my challenges to our team and I’m excited to see how we respond.”
Played at Old Overton Club in Vestavia Hills and named for one of Alabama’s all-time great golfers, the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate is a three-day, 54-hole event. The par 70 course plays on 7,204 yards.
Vandy will try to conquer that course without one of its best as fifth-year senior John Augenstein will be in Augusta, Georgia, preparing to compete at the Masters Tournaments. Augenstein fired a 13-under at the Vanderbilt Legends Collegiate to take home a second-place finish.
William Moll, Reid Davenport, Matthew Riedel, Michael Shears and Jansen Preston will represent Vanderbilt during the Jerry Pate Invitational.
“Our lineup is different and new and we are excited to see these guys get the opportunity to step up and show they can compete and show leadership,” Limbaugh said. “We get to choose what we believe about ourselves and a huge part of our job is to help these guys choose confidence.”
Each team is scheduled to be on the course at 12:20 p.m. Sunday for a shotgun start. Tee times will then be assigned for Monday’s and Tuesday’s rounds.
Spectators will be permitted to this particular event.
Live scoring can be found HERE and updates will be posted daily to Vanderbilt golf’s Twitter and Instagram pages.
