Vandy vs. All Others
by Chad BishopCommodores come together to become champions
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Moments after Vanderbilt won the 2021 SEC Championships on Sunday, after the initial surge of high fives and hugs, Reid Davenport let the wave of emotions overtake him.
The junior embraced his mother and father off the 18th green and let the tears fall.
“It’s my junior year, I’ve been to one of these, I know what it feels like to lose,” he said. “I know what it feels like to be down in the hunt. I’m just so happy for everyone on the team.
“It just felt good to be on the other side – to win.”
Davenport was a major key to Vandy’s title run on the Seaside course at the Sea Island Golf Club – but then again so were all four of his teammates. And even junior Michael Shears, present as a possible substitute, did his part by racing from hole to hole for all five days cheering the Commodores forward.
Vanderbilt beat Arkansas 3-2 on Sunday, a victory that came on the heels of a 4-1 triumph over Alabama in the semifinals to start the day. Those wins came after severe storms moved through South Georgia on Saturday afternoon moments following the Dores’ elimination of Tennessee in the quarterfinals.
In that first stage it was Harrison Ott coming up big after struggling to find his groove in stroke play. The Wisconsin native had Vandy’s highest score after 54 holes and finished 65th out of 70 participants – but when former Vanderbilt great Will Gordon arrived during Ott’s match-play round Saturday the senior saw his fortunes turn for the better.
Ott went on to beat Rhys Nevin-Wharton 3&2, Gordon hung around to speak to the team Saturday night about what it takes to play championship-level golf.
Freshman Cole Sherwood, meanwhile, was unflappable all week. He shot a 210 over 54 holes of stroke play and tied for fifth overall at even-par.
Sherwood was barely bested 1-up Saturday morning in the quarterfinals only to come back to win 5&4 over Alabama’s Canon Claycomb on Sunday and 4&2 over William Buhl of Arkansas, respectively. Vanderbilt assistant coach Gator Todd was with the youngster virtually every step of the way.
Davenport and Matthew Riedel were solid as well with Davenport tying for 12th during stroke play and winning all three of his match play contests and Riedel going 2-1 in match play.
But in the end it all came down to William Moll, a sophomore playing in his first SEC Championships (the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), who continued a stellar and consistent season during his most pressure-packed moment yet.
Up one teeing off on 18, Moll drove the fairway, landed his approach on the right side of the 18th green and then placed his long putt for birdie next to the hole to tap in for the match-clinching par.
For a team that had been so close to winning this spring – it had finished inside the top five in four straight tournaments coming in – Sunday’s crowing achievement meant a lot to a group who took an us-against-the-world mentality.
“We block out everything people say about us. We know what we’re capable of,” Davenport said. “We know how we can play and we know what our good is. We believe our good is better than anyone in the nation. We just believe in each other and stick to our game plan, we stayed aggressive and it worked out.”
Limbaugh said he witnessed a team that never looked scared of the setting, the venue or the moment while on St. Simons Island. They bonded throughout the season in a different way than teams had done in the past given the circumstances and committed themselves to getting better.
The veteran coach and his assistant Todd, meanwhile, helped guide the Dores to the program’s second conference title in four chances. Now they’ll look to even loftier goals.
NCAA Regionals start next month, the next challenge for a team playing its best at just the right time.
“We’re going to enjoy this. We got about 17 days until NCAA Regionals and we got a lot of work to do,” Limbaugh said. “We’ll embrace that and try to be ready when it’s time to go.”
— Chad Bishop covers Vanderbilt for VUCommodores.com.
Follow him @MrChadBishop.