BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Vanderbilt men’s golf team advanced to the championship at the SEC Match Play. The No. 3-ranked Commodores finished stroke play in second place after carding 28-under 824 over three rounds at the Country Club of Birmingham.
Vanderbilt will challenge Auburn on Wednesday for the SEC Match Play title. Vandy carded 5-under 279 in Tuesday’s third round, as the Dores finished three strokes ahead of Arkansas to set up Wednesday’s championship match against the Tigers.
“A lot to be proud of today in terms of fighting and competing to give ourselves a chance to play for the tournament championship,” said Vanderbilt men’s golf head coach Scott Limbaugh. “The feels we had out there today will help us going forward if we use them the right way. Cole showed why he is one of the best players in college golf today and showed a ton of resilience in how he bounced back after yesterday. Obviously, very proud of Gordon and he played outstanding all week and battled through the finish line today. Matthew was steady all week long and it was great to see him, and Gordon make clutch putts on the final hole.”
Junior Gordon Sargent finished in second place on the player leaderboard, as he shot 1-under 70 in Round 3. The Birmingham, Alabama native ended stroke play at 14-under 199, finishing one stroke behind Alabama’s Nick Dunlap for first. Sargent will take on Jackson Koivun in match play at 9:40 a.m. on Wednesday.
Graduate student Matthew Riedel also shot 1-under 70 in Tuesday’s third round, as the All-American finished in a tie for sixth. Riedel ended stroke play at 9-under 204 and will go against Auburn’s Reed Lotter in match play.
Both Cole Sherwood and William Moll ended stroke play inside the top 35 on the player leaderboard. Sherwood carded a team-best 5-under 66 in Round 3 to finish in a tie for 28th at 2-under 211. The senior will take on Brendan Valdes in match play at 9:50 a.m. on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Moll shot even par over three rounds, as his score of 213 (E) put him in a tie for 34th. The All-American will challenge JM Butler in match play, with tee time set for 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Today was the type of day that makes college golf so much fun,” Limbaugh expressed. “Just learning to fight with what you have and playing for each other is what it’s all about. We have a great opportunity to play a really good opponent tomorrow and we need to bring our best because that’s what it will…
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