SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – Vanderbilt men’s golf carded an even-par, 288, in their second round at Rich Harvest Farms Golf Club and are in a tie for fourth place on the team leader board with Auburn heading into the third round Sunday in Sugar Grove, Ill., with an overall score of 566 (278-288). Matthias Schwab is Vanderbilt’s individual leader after two rounds with a seven-under par, 137, and is tied for second on the individual leader board. The senior from Rohrmoos, Austria, is tied with Southern California’s Justin Suh, Kent State’s Bjarki Peterson, and Braden Thornberry of Ole Miss for second place, which is one shot off of the overall individual lead held by Texas’ Scottie Scheffler.
“I thought I was hitting the ball solid, but I didn’t get them as close to the pins as yesterday,” said Schwab. “I had a lot of 30 and 40-footers and was trying to two-putt from there. I thought I hit them okay and putted okay. I am pretty happy with the score. It’s a hard course. I knew that going in. Some of the holes are really tough and you just want to make par or bogey and a few other holes are pretty getable. You just have to know that before the round and before each hole. Sometimes par is a good score.”
The Commodores, who returned to Rich Harvest Farms early on Saturday to complete their first round after inclement weather delayed play on Friday, counted Schwab and John Augenstein’s 70’s, an even-par 72 from junior Theo Humphrey, and a four-over, 76 from sophomore Patrick Martin in their second round, which commenced immediately following the conclusion of their first round.
“Our focus this morning was on coming out and finishing strong in round one,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “It was certainly an early start and we asked the guys to just embrace it and be ready. I thought they did a great job of that, especially Patrick birdieing two of those three holes. Matthias played a great round and it was an overall team effort with Theo and Will playing well, which is what it takes this time of year.
“I thought we carried that positive momentum over into round two and really played some solid golf. However, we didn’t do a very good job accepting bogeys and tried to force a few things which led to some big numbers and cost us having another really good round. However, I was extremely proud of how we hung in there on the last three holes and saved an even-par team round. John played really solid all day and that really lifted our team up. Matthias is playing very well and the way he finished that round shows again why he is so special.”
Vanderbilt trails team leader UNLV by four shots heading into the third round, second-place Oklahoma by three, and third-place Illinois by one. Auburn carded a second-round 284 in the afternoon wave to tie the Commodores for fourth.
Vanderbilt will tee off with Auburn and Southern California beginning at 7:07 a.m. CT off of the number one tee on Sunday, with the top 15 teams and nine individuals not affiliated with those teams advancing to the fourth and final round of stroke play following Sunday’s action.
“We know it takes a full team effort this time of year, so nobody needs to try to do more,” said Limbaugh. “Our standards and attention to detail will need to continue to be very high as we move forward. It’s so important just to focus on the job at hand and allow the round to come to you on this golf course. Another day tomorrow presents another opportunity that we get to compete and have fun and that should definitely excite us.”
4. Vanderbilt – 278-288=566
T2. Matthias Schwab – 67-70=127
T41. Theo Humphrey – 71-72=143
T50. John Augenstein – 74-70=144
T62. Patrick Martin – 69-76=145
T108. Will Gordon – 71-79=150
