Only the second Commodore to win an Individual title
For the second time in Vanderbilt Athletics history, a Commodore has won an individual national title.
Gordon Sargent won a four-man playoff Monday at the Grayhawk Golf Club to claim the national title. The freshman birdied the par-4 18th hole to beat Parker Coody of Texas, Ryan Burnett of North Carolina and Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra of Oklahoma State.
Sargent is from Birmingham’s Mountain Brook High School and has won back-to-back Alabama Men’s Amateur championships. He was the Alabama golf Association’s Player of the Year in 2021
“It definitely took a lot of patience out there – it was playing tough,” Sargent said afterward. “I just kind of stuck to my game and just let it fall into place. It was just a tough day and just had to manage expectations well.”
Sargent came into the day at 4-under-par and actually had his worst round of the four-day stroke competition. But he recovered from three bogeys on the front nine to come back in at 1-over-par.
The rest of the field went up and down around Sargent until Coody, Burnett and Lopez-Chacarra all settled in at even-par as well. That foursome carted back up to the tee box at 18 for the first playoff hole.
Sargent and Burnett rolled their respective tee shots down the right side of the fairway while Coody and Lopez-Chacarra found the left-side Bunker. Sargent’s second shot fell just feet from the pin leaving him a birdie putt – it turned out to be his lone birdie of the afternoon.
Sargent’s play helped the Commodores surge to the No. 1 seed in the eight-team match play portion of the tournament. Vanderbilt was the only SEC team to reach the final eight.
Auburn was on the cusp of qualifying but faded down the stretch on a tough day for most of the teams. The Tigers were in the top eight but fell to a tie for 10th place with SEC rival Florida, seven shots out of 8th place. Arkansas was ninth, Georgia was 12th, Ole Miss was 14th and Texas A&M failed to qualify for the final round of stroke play.
Featured image courtesy of Vanderbilt Athletics
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