SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Vanderbilt led the way both as a team and individual during the final day of stroke play at the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club (7,289 yards/par 70).
The Commodores finished in a first-place tie with Oklahoma and North Carolina at +14 overall (1134 total). Through a tiebreaker, Vanderbilt secured the top seed and faces eighth seed Texas Tech in Tuesday’s matchplay quarterfinals.
Reid Davenport and William Moll each shot 1-over 71 to help the Commodores catch the Sooners who entered the day 1-under as a team but shot 15-over (295 total).
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The accolades continued for Vanderbilt as freshman Gordon Sargent secured his only birdie of the day on the first playoff hole to win the NCAA Division I Men’s Championship individual title.
Sargent entered the final round at -4 and had a one-shot lead. He carded a 74 and finished in a tie with Ryan Burnett (North Carolina), Parker Coody (Texas), and Eugenio Chacarra (Oklahoma State). He becomes the first freshman since USC’s Jamie Lovemark (2007) to win the men’s individual golf championship.
“It definitely took a lot of patience out there and it was playing tough,” said Sargent. “A lot of people were playing well, and I had to stick to my game. We still have work to do as a team and are looking forward to tomorrow.”
The top-ranked Sooners are the second seed and will face the seventh seed and fourth ranked Arizona State. The Sun Devils shot 9-over (289 total) today and finished the championship at +28 (1148 total). Cameron Sisk led the Sun Devils with an even par 70.
One of the biggest jumps of the day came from North Carolina. The Tar Heels shot 5-over (285 total) and were paced by Austin Greaser’s 1-under 69. They will be the third seed and face defending national champion Pepperdine.
“A great week by the guys so far, tying for first in stroke play,” said North Carolina Head Coach Andrew DiBitetto. “I’m just very pleased and very proud of the guys for their poise, their composure, their patience.
Obviously, it's a really tough test out there. You could see it by the scores once again today. They were really high scores in very difficult conditions. Just proud of the guys for what we've accomplished to this point, but we're not done. It feels like the tournament is just getting started for us and we have a lot of things we want to accomplish this week and the fun starts tomorrow.”
The only team to shoot under par today was Texas who finished the day 3-under (277 total). Mason Nome’s 68 and Pierceson Coody’s 69 help the Longhorns secure the fourth seed. They face fifth seed Oklahoma State who had one of the highest rounds of the day with a +18 (298 total).
HISTORY: See every DI men's golf champion since 1897
Team match begins on Tuesday, May 31 at Grayhawk. Morning quarterfinal matches include Arizona State vs. Oklahoma, Pepperdine vs. North Carolina, Texas Tech vs. Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State vs. Texas. Semifinal matches will be played on Tuesday afternoon.
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH ANDREW DIBITETTO
“We've been building and building, and I feel like for whatever reason nationally nobody talks about us. I don't fully know why. But we love our guys. We're a really talented group. The guys work hard. They love the game. They love competition. They're mentally tough. I wouldn't say we're here until we lift the big trophy, but we're right where we want to be right now.
DIBITETTO ON RYAN BURNETT
“He’s been resilient. Things didn't go his way in the fall, even a little bit last year. To start the year, he wasn't even in the lineup, but give him a lot of credit for his work ethic. We talked a lot about getting in the dirt and digging your way out of something. And Ryan’s worked really hard this year, really, really hard. A lot of early mornings at the facility. That's what coaches love to see, and we love to see guys get rewarded for the hard work when it pays off. I’m super proud and excited for him. One of the coolest things was I listened to him get interviewed the other day on Golf Channel, and they asked him about the individual national championship and his response was basically, ‘yes, that'd be cool. But we came here to win a team championship.’ So, it's awesome to see him have success but also know exactly where his mind is.”
PEPPERDINE COACH MICHAEL BEARD
“I honestly think that match play is where our competitiveness really comes out. When you put them mano a mano, it fires them up. Our guys have been strong in match play. The experience of having done well in match play is huge. I don’t think there is another team that can say they have done what we’ve done. Whatever emotions you feel out there, our guys have experienced that and come out on top. We have a lot of confidence.
TEXAS TECH COACH GREG SANDS
“Our goal all season has been to win a national championship. You have to keep advancing in this format to do that and we’re taking an important step. Now we go head-to-head with other teams, and we’ll need to play our best golf. Match play has been some of the most exciting days of my career and I’m looking forward to what our guys can do tomorrow. It’s going to be fun no matter what, but our guys are here to win. We know we’ll have to play well but we’re excited about the opportunity. We talked about sticking to the process before our round. One of our mental approaches is to be unbreakable. We just needed to keep playing and I thought we did a good job of coming out focused with a good start.”
Championships Schedule (Times Local/MST)
Tuesday, May 31 – Team Match Play
- 6:20 a.m. Quarterfinal – No. 7 Arizona State vs. No. 2 Oklahoma (1st tee) Quarterfinal – No. 6 Pepperdine vs. No. 3 North Carolina (10th tee)
- 7:10 a.m. Quarterfinal – No. 8 Texas Tech vs. No. 1 Vanderbilt (1st tee) Quarterfinal – No. 5 Oklahoma State vs. No. 5 Texas (10th tee)
- 12:45 p.m. Semifinal - Match #5 begins (winners of match #1 and #2)
- 1:35 p.m. Semifinal - Match #6 begins (winners of match #3 and #4)
GOLF Channel Coverage
- 9 – 11:30 a.m. Team Match Play Quarterfinals (Live) 2 – 6 p.m. Team Match Play Semifinals (Live)
- Wednesday, June 1 1:35 p.m. Championship match begins (winner Match #5 vs. winner of Match #6)
- GOLF Channel Coverage 2 - 6 p.m. Team Match Play National Championship (Live)
