ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Wells Williams posted the lowest single-round score by a Commodore at the SEC Men’s Golf Championship on Wednesday, as the Vanderbilt men’s golf senior opened postseason play by carding 6-under 64 to end the round in a tie for second.
Williams was bogey-free in the opening round of the SEC Championship, as the senior collected four birdies and one eagle. His score of 64 in Round 1 allowed the senior to break Will Gordon’s previous program record of 65, set in the first round at the 2019 SEC Championships. Williams’ score on Wednesday also tied him for the third-lowest opening round score in the event’s 85-year history.
“I’m certainly ecstatic for Wells to get us off to a great start with a 64 in the first round,” said Scott Limbaugh, Thomas F. Roush, M.D., and Family Vanderbilt Men’s Golf Head Coach. “Honestly, he was in control all day. He played awesome, and I’m super proud of that. Wells has been about as consistent as a young man as I’ve coached. I think that allows him to always be in it. He just had some nice rhythm to his game today. I hope our guys are listening, learning, and understanding the maturity it takes this time of year. I think they are, and I really think we’re getting better. I was encouraged by the way we started, but we wanted to finish a little better.”
The Commodores concluded the opening round of the 2026 SEC Championship tied for 13th on the team leaderboard with a score of 2-under 278. Vanderbilt heads into Round 2 on Thursday tied with No. 14/14 Tennessee.
Freshman Will Hartman finished his first round at the SEC Championship scoring under par, as the Marvin, North Carolina, native ended the day at 1-under 69. Hartman goes into Round 2 in a tie for 31st on the player leaderboard.
Junior Chase Nevins carded 2-over 72, while freshman Jon Ed Steed went 3-over 73 to round out the scoring for Vanderbilt. Nevins opens play on Thursday tied for 61st, while Steed is tied for 66th.
“Will Hartman just played with a ton of consistency,” stated Limbaugh about the freshman. “His iron game is really strong, and that sets up the rest of his game. As a group, a little disappointing today. We made the turn at 7-under par, then had these little lapses of concentration and focus that we’ve got to clean up, and that’s our responsibility. We’re not done just yet this week.”
No. 12/13-ranked Ole Miss holds the lead at the 2026 SEC Championship after one round of play, as the Rebels pace the 16-team field at 15-under 265. Oklahoma’s Ryder Cowan holds a two-stroke lead after 18 holes of play with an 18-hole score of 8-under 62.
The No. 11/10 Dores tee off Round 2 of the SEC Championship on Thursday at 7 a.m. CT from Hole 10. Fans can click the link here to follow along with live scoring.
“We’ve got to be excited and ready to go”, said Limbaugh about Round 2. “We just got to have other guys stepping up, and we will. We’ve had golfers stepping up all season. I believe in these guys, and tomorrow is obviously a really important day for us. We need to be ready to roll.”
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