ATLANTA – After the Vanderbilt men’s golf team combined to play No. 14 at East Lake Golf Club at 5-under par in stroke play at the East Lake Cup, the hole continued to favor the Commodores Tuesday when they met Texas in the semifinals of match play at the event.
The par five playing at 559 yards was the final hole for the trio of Matthew Riedel, William Moll and Cole Sherwood as they clinched 5&4 victories to lead Vandy to a 3-1-1 defeat of the defending national champions. The third-seeded Dores will face No. 1 seed Arizona State—a 3-2 victor over Pepperdine in the other semifinal—Wednesday in the championship match, with the first pairing set to begin play at 11:55 a.m. CT.
“I’m extremely proud of the way the guys came out and played today,” said head coach Scott Limbaugh. “We talked last night about being excited to play and competing with pride in performance. Every day you get a chance to play is a learning and growing opportunity. I thought each guy did a great job locking in from the start. I’m proud of Matthew and William, who got our first two points, and Cole and Gordon both played really well on the back.”
Riedel was tied after the opening nine in his match with Alejandro Gonzalez, but he took control by winning each of the first five holes after the turn. Moll claimed three of five holes on Nos. 4-8 to go 4 up heading to the back side of the course in his match-up with Mason Nome, and Sherwood followed by taking five consecutive holes beginning at the sixth on his way to a win over Keaton Vo.
All three ended their matches with birdies on the 14th.
Gordon Sargent led by as many as five holes in his match with Travis Vick, the last of the afternoon that was not completed, while Texas’ point came on a 4&2 victory from Christiaan Maas over Reid Davenport.
Live results from the championship match will be available at Golfstat.com, and GOLF Channel will provide live coverage from 2-5 p.m. CT as well.
“Tomorrow should be a lot of fun, it’s an important day for our team,” Limbaugh said. “It’s our final day of the fall season and we need to take pride in finishing the right way. We thank our fans who showed up today and hope to see more here tomorrow.”
