ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Graduate student Matthew Riedel finished the 2024 SEC Men’s Golf Championship in a tie for second place, while the Vanderbilt men’s golf team concluded stroke play in third place after carding 13-under 827 over three rounds of play at Sea Island Golf Club.
Riedel was one of four golfers to finish in a tie for second at the 2024 SEC Men’s Golf Championship. The Houston, Texas, native carded 6-under 204 to post the best finish of his career at the conference championship. The All-American finished a team-best 2-under 68 in Round 3 to move up five spots on the player leaderboard. Riedel concluded each round of the SEC Championship under par, as he held scores of 67-69-68. He also collected a team-high 15 birdies, which was tied for the second most in the tournament.
The Commodores concluded stroke play at the SEC Championship in third place after carding 13-under 827. Vandy finished at 2-over 282 in Round 3 on Friday to end play just one stroke behind Auburn and Tennessee, who finished in a tie for first. Vanderbilt is one of eight teams to advance to match play at the 2024 SEC Championships. The Commodores will be the No. 3 seed and take on No. 6-seed Florida in the quarterfinals of the SEC Men’s Golf Championships on Saturday at 7:20 a.m. CT. It is the seventh-straight consecutive match play appearance for the Commodores at the SEC Championship.
“It was a tougher day with the wind, which was up for the first time this week, so I thought it was a great test for us,” said Vanderbilt men’s golf head coach Scott Limbaugh. “I thought we played okay today. Certainly, I’m very proud of Matthew and the job he did. He keeps bouncing back when he is presented with a challenge. The way he finished today was world-class.”
Senior Cole Sherwood also finished inside the top 10 at the SEC Championship, as he concluded stroke play at 4-under 206. The All-American led the tournament with 42 pars, while he posted scores of 66-69-71 over three rounds of play.
Juniors Jackson Van Paris and Gordon Sargent each wrapped up stroke play at par or better. Van Paris carded 1-under 209 to finish in a tie for 17th, while Sargent ended play at even par 210 to end in a tie for 23rd.
Auburn and Tennessee tied for first at the end of stroke play at the 2024 SEC Men’s Golf Championship, as each team finished at 14-under 826. The Tigers claimed the tiebreaker over the Volunteers and Auburn heads into stroke play as the No. 1 seed. Auburn’s Jackson Koivun won the individual title at the SEC Championship, as he finished stroke play at 12-under 198.
Vanderbilt, who earned the No. 3-seed in match play, will take on No. 6-seed Florida in the quarterfinals of the 2024 SEC Men’s Golf Championship. It is a rematch of the 2023 SEC Championship finals, which the Gators claimed, 3-1-1. Tee time is set for 7:20 a.m. CT. Pairings for the quarterfinals can be found by clicking the link here, while fans can follow along with live results at GolfStat.com.
“It is the SEC and you’ve got to bring it,” said Limbaugh. “We have to have more energy and more excitement and not play the game like it’s a burden. You’ve got to be excited for an opportunity every single time you get to tee it up from here on for the rest of the season. I expect our guys to come out with that kind of enthusiasm and that excitement to play closer to our standards than we did today.”
The winner between the Commodores and Gators will take on either No. 2-seed Tennessee or No. 7-seed Texas A&M in the semifinals of the SEC Championship, which will also take place Saturday. The semifinal match will tee off at 1 p.m. CT at will stream on SEC Network+ starting at 3 p.m. CT.
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