After taking second at the Mason Rudolph Championship, Vanderbilt Men’s Golf travelled to West Point, Mississippi, for its final tournament of the regular season from April 13-14.
The event was played at the Mossy Oak Golf Club, which had a 7,212-yard par-72 setup. It is famous for being a “minimalist” golf course, having not moved much land in its design, and it immerses players in the surroundings of the Mississippi Black Prairie.
The Commodores’ starting lineup included Wells Williams, Ryan Downes, Jon Ed Steed, Will Hartman and Chase Nevins. First-year Michael Riebe played as an individual.
On the first day of the tournament, each team played 36 holes. During the first round of 18, Hartman led the way with a solid round of 2-under 70. Williams and Nevins followed with scores of 1-under, as the latter was able to bounce back from an early double-bogey for one of his best rounds of the season.
In the afternoon round, Williams and Nevins followed up with two more rounds of 71, respectively. The pair sat in a tie for 11th place on the individual leaderboard at the end of the day. Downes and Steed shot rounds of even-par, en route to a round of 2-under 286 that put Vanderbilt in third place in the team standings.
“I really thought we played solid,” head coach Scott Limbaugh said after the day. “Chase [Nevins] was in control all day and did a great job sticking to his game plan. We were close to having a really good round this afternoon, but just didn’t score as well as we needed to.”
On the final day, Williams, who grew up just a few miles from Mossy Oak in West Point, shot a 2-under 70 to finish the tournament in seventh place. He ends the 2025-26 regular season with seven top-ten finishes, and he is currently ranked No. 20 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and No. 6 on the PGA TOUR U leaderboard. As only the top five finishers in PGA TOUR U get unconditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour, the senior will look to have a great postseason before turning pro this summer.
Nevins shot his third consecutive 71 to place 11th on the week, while Steed and Riebe both matched him with 1-under rounds on the final day. Hartman even recorded an eagle on the monstrous 607-yard seventh hole. The team shot a 5-under 283 to finish the week in third place, but were still seven shots behind co-winners Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
“I thought this was a really solid week for our team and a step in the right direction before championship season begins,” Limbaugh said. “I thought our guys played with some grit and some toughness this week, which is very encouraging. We didn’t get off to a great start today, but we hung in there well, stayed patient, and started making some birdies. We certainly have some things to clean up before next week, and I know our guys will embrace that. We have to keep having high demands for ourselves because when you demand more, you get more.”
The Commodores will return to action at the SEC Championships in St. Simons Island, Georgia, beginning April 22.
