The Vanderbilt Commodores kicked off their much-anticipated 2022 spring season in La Quinta, California, at the 24-team tournament, The Prestige. The 54-hole tournament spanned from Feb. 21-23, and was held on the Greg Norman Course at PGA West, playing 7,100 yards at par 71. After concluding their fall season with a third-place finish at Williams Cup, the Commodores and head coach Scott Limbaugh were eager to start the spring season strong.
“We are pumped to finally get started this spring,” Limbaugh said. “It’s the latest we have ever started and we are all excited to finally compete. This is a new tournament for us and we are looking forward to a great event on a good course.”
That excitement translated to success, as the Commodores were victorious in La Quinta, winning The Prestige Championship by 10 strokes. Vanderbilt was backed by a magnificent 14-under-par final round on Wednesday, Feb. 23, as they shot a 270—the best round of any team throughout the tournament.
“We just talked about coming out here today and just being excited and really competing to our standards and having a little fun and playing with some freedom,” Limbaugh said. “The guys just got rolling today.”
Vanderbilt came swinging out of the gates, finishing Day 1 of the tournament tied for first place with Oregon at 3 over. The optimism came to a halt on Tuesday, when uncharacteristic 30-mph winds, temperatures in the 50s and hail made its way to Southern California. Vanderbilt dropped to sixth in the standings with a 27-over-par 311 round, yet no other team shot under 300.
“It’s funny, this is our first time out here, and we came here thinking we signed up for 85 and sunny and light and variable winds,” Limbaugh told Larry Bohannan of Golfweek.
The tough conditions continued into Wednesday, as it hailed while the Commodores teed off. The weather proved no match for the Commodore’s toughness, as a 14-under-par 270 propelled them to victory. Vanderbilt was led by Reid Davenport (+1), Cole Sherwood (+2) and Gordon Sargent (+8), posting third place, fourth place and 16th place overall in the tournament, respectively.
“Reid was solid as a rock out there–he hit 17 greens and putted unbelievable,” Limbaugh said. “Cole Sherwood had a really good week from start to finish. He’s really coming into his own as a player. Then just proud of a freshman like Gordon Sargent to bounce back from a round like [an 83 on Tuesday] and to have the courage and internal fortitude to come out there today and shoot 65 to help lead us to our first win of the year.”
The Commodores can celebrate the long-awaited victory for now, but the team will need to focus as they head down to Los Cabos, Mexico, on Sunday for the Cabo Collegiate on the Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol.
“We’re starting to become a team and we still have a lot of work to do and we’re excited about that, but the good thing is we get to get right back on the saddle here in a few days at another great event,” Limbaugh said. “Just a great kickoff to the spring season.”
