ST ANDREWS, Scotland – Vanderbilt men’s golf junior Jackson Van Paris captured the individual title at the inaugural St Andrews Links Collegiate, as he carded 9-under 131 over two rounds of play to win his first collegiate individual title.
The junior from Pinehurst, North Carolina, native concluded stroke play by carding 3-under 67 in Round 2 to pick up the win. Van Paris opened the round on fire, collecting four birdies on the front nine to put him at 3-under at the turn. The junior was rock solid on the back nine, as he shot even par on each of his final six holes to secure the win a 3-stroke victory over teammate Cole Sherwood.
“It definitely wasn’t as easy today as it was yesterday, the golf felt a little more difficult,” said Van Paris. “I was lucky to still make some putts and I had a few good breaks here and there. That’s what you need to win. Overall, a good day, and it was really cool to get the win. Getting those three birdies on six, seven, and eight was really good because I didn’t have much momentum before that. I tried to have a one-shot-at-a-time mentality and I was really proud of the way I was able to hang in there.”
It is Van Paris’ first collegiate win, as he gives Vanderbilt its second-straight individual title after Sherwood won the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational over two weeks ago. Additionally, it is Vanderbilt’s sixth individual title dating back to the start of the 2022-23 season.
“Jackson played great,” said Vanderbilt men’s golf head coach Scott Limbaugh. “He’s someone that really knows how to keep his ball low to the ground, has an unbelievable short game, and a great imagination. When we got to St Andrews, I said to my assistant coach, I really like Jackson this week, so I’m just super pumped for him to get the win.”
The Commodores captured the top two spots on the player leaderboard, as Van Paris was followed by Sherwood, who finished stroke play at 6-under 134. The All-American moved up four places during Round 2, concluding the day at 4-under 66 to post a second-place finish.
Their performances helped Vanderbilt claim the No. 1 seed going into Wednesday’s medal match play, as the Dores posted a two-round score of 23-under 677. Vandy will challenge No. 1-ranked North Carolina in Wednesday’s medal match play to determine the St Andrews Links Collegiate team champion.
A trio of Commodores also posted a top-10 finish during stroke play at the St Andrews Links Collegiate. Graduate student William Moll carded 3-under 67 during Round 2 to finish in a tie for seventh on the player leaderboard with a two-round score of 3-under 137. Graduate student Matthew Riedel and sophomore Wells Williams finished tied for ninth place, as each golfer carded 2-under 138 during stroke play. Williams shot 4-under 66 to move seven spots up on the player leaderboard during Round 2, while Riedel posted a round score of 2-under 68 to close out stroke play.
“You want to take all the right steps along the way,” said Limbaugh about advancing to medal match play. “Our guys played great golf today and we played well yesterday. We just didn’t finish very well (in Round 1), so all we talked about last night was the ability to stay focused and finish. We did that today.”
Vanderbilt heads into Wednesday’s medal match play as the No. 1 seed. The Commodores will go head-to-head against top-ranked North Carolina on St Andrews’ legendary Old Course in medal match play, which consists of six groups of two golfers playing one-on-one over 18 holes of play, with the golfer posting the lowest score claiming the point. Medal match play is set to tee off this Wednesday at 4:55 a.m. CT.
“North Carolina is a great team, and we know it’ll take a great effort tomorrow,” stated Limbaugh. “It’ll be interesting to see how we play on the Old Course because we haven’t played it yet, we’ve just walked it. It will be a historic day. It’s something we’ll definitely be ready for, and I know our team will be excited.”
The Golf Channel and Peacock will air live coverage of Wednesday’s medal match play starting at 8 a.m. CT. Fans can follow along with the entire medal match play at GolfStat.com.
For more information on the Vanderbilt men’s golf team, follow @VandyMGolf on Instagram and Twitter.
