SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Matthew Riedel led Vanderbilt with a second-round even-par 70 while William Moll was a shot behind Saturday as play continued at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships.
The former carded a team-best four birdies and the latter added three to improve their scores by seven and four strokes, respectively, from the opening 18 holes of the tournament. Their efforts helped the Commodores end the day sixth with a 570 group score after posting a 288 total in the second round.
“We knew it was an important day today with the morning tee time and we just never quite had positive momentum as a team. I didn’t think we were bad by any means, but we definitely weren’t as sharp as we need to be going forward,” head coach Scott Limbaugh said. “It was encouraging to see Matthew bounce back and play a good round, he did a good job making some putts to keep his round going. I am also proud of William and how he battled after a tough start, he looked like he found some good rhythm with his swing the last 10-12 holes. Gordon made a few great par saves coming in that should give him some confidence going forward, which is big for us.”
Riedel opened with birdies on two of the first four holes at the par-70, 7,289-yard Grayhawk Golf Club to make the turn at 1 under, and he added two more on Nos. 12 and 16 on the back nine. Moll carded threes on both the second and ninth holes—playing at 395 and 468 yards, respectively—before going 1 under after the turn with a birdie on No. 11 followed by seven consecutive pars.
Gordon Sargent finished with a 73 in the second round, while Cole Sherwood posted a 74 and Reid Davenport shot 75. Sherwood leads Vandy in the individual standings at the midway point of stroke play as he is now tied for 13th with an even-par 140 total over 36 holes.
Illinois—which was paired with the Dores in the opening two rounds of the event—took over the team lead after shooting a 7-under-par 273 on Saturday. The Fighting Illini have a three-shot advantage over Florida with a 2-under-par 558 36-hole total, with Georgia Tech and North Carolina tied for third at 566 and Pepperdine (568) rounding out the top five among the 30 schools in the field.
Ross Steelman of Georgia Tech continues to hold the individual lead with a 7-under-par 133 two-day score, three strokes better than Texas A&M’s Daniel Rodrigues and Adrien Dumont de Chassart from Illinois.
“It’s important tomorrow to have all five guys in the round and playing with courage. There are no excuses this time of year because it takes what it takes,” said Limbaugh. “This week is a marathon and we are off to a solid start, but we know we can be better. I’m excited to watch our guys continue to battle and enjoy this moment because this is what it’s all about.
“I love this team, I know they appreciate the support we are getting and we need our fans excited for moving day tomorrow.”
Vanderbilt will begin play with Georgia Tech and Pepperdine Sunday at 8:32 a.m. CT, with live scoring for the event found HERE.
The top 15 teams and top nine individuals not from one of those programs will move on to the final round of stroke play on Monday.
Half Dozen Dores Honored
The Golf Coaches Association of America released the organization’s PING all-region honors on Saturday morning, with six Commodores included on the All-Southeast Region team. Moll and Riedel lead the group, which also includes Sherwood, Sargent, Jackson Van Paris—Vandy’s alternate in the lineup this week at the NCAA Championships—and freshman Wells Williams. It’s the third time in as many years that Sherwood has made the team, while it’s the second all-region honor for Moll, Riedel and Sargent.
