Vanderbilt Finishes Fifth at Valspar Collegiate

Commodores end tournament with an 11-under-par 841

PALM CITY, Fla. – The No. 3 Vanderbilt Commodore men’s golf team finished the Valspar Collegiate Championship, a field with 11 of the top 23 teams in the nation, in fifth place with a final total of 11-under-par 841 (285-271-285) at the par-71, 6,921-yard Floridian National Golf Club on Monday.  Senior Patrick Martin paced the Vanderbilt effort for the week, carding a 6-under-par 207 (72-65-70) and finishing in a tie for 10th in the individual standings.

The Commodores, who played 36 holes on Monday due to the threat of bad weather on Tuesday, opened the day with a 13-under-par 271 in their first 18 holes, with three Vanderbilt players, Martin, junior John Augenstein, and senior Will Gordon, each carding rounds in the 60’s.  Martin finished with a bogey-free 65, Augenstein a 4-under 67 in another bogey-free round, and Gordon a 3-under 68 in the morning round, with sophomore Harrison Ott closing out the Vanderbilt scoring with an even-par 71.  The low scores in the morning quickly vaulted Vanderbilt up the leaderboard from eighth to fourth heading into the third and final round in the afternoon.

Martin and Augenstein each led Vanderbilt in the afternoon with a 1-under-par 70.  Gordon (2-over-73) and freshman Reid Davenport (1-over-72) were the other two counters in the third round for the Commodores.

“It was a long day out there today,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh.  “This morning was probably our best round of the spring so far. Patrick and John both played great and neither made a bogey, which was great and big for both of them and our team.  They played with a lot of confidence this week.  Will was close to playing well and I love the way he battles.  Really the fight all the guys showed finishing off the round was impressive and gave us a lot of momentum.  The wind picked up quite a bit in the afternoon round and it played tougher.  We didn’t get off to a great start, but the guys competed and showed a lot of resilience at the end of the round which was big.  Days like this will help us down the road and playing this type of competition makes you better.”

Wake Forest won the team championship with a 25-under-par 827, six shots better than second-place Auburn.  Individually, Matthew Wolff of Oklahoma State won medalist honors with a 14-under-par 199 (65-66-68).

“I feel like we are getting better as a team,” said Limbaugh.  “We aren’t playing bad, but we aren’t playing winning golf.  That really comes down to everyone doing the simple things better. This team desires to be excellent and in my opinion, we have the ability to get where we want to be, but we have to stay focused on getting better.”

The Commodores return to the course for their own Mason Rudolph Championship April 5-7 at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.

5. Vanderbilt – 285-271-285=841
T10. Patrick Martin – 72-65-70=207
T17. John Augenstein – 72-67-70=209
T26. Will Gordon – 71-68-73=212
T43. Harrison Ott – 70-71-76=217
T48. Reid Davenport – 73-73-72=218