Men’s Golfers Travel to Auburn for NCAA East Regional 5/13/03

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For the first time in school history the Vanderbilt men’s golf team is preparing to compete in the NCAA Championship that begins this week. The Commodores are the No. 10 seed in the field of 27 at the NCAA East Regional that will be played Thursday through Friday at the Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala.

Vanderbilt begins its run to the NCAA Championship with Wednesday’s practice round and then continues with 18 holes Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The Auburn University Club is a par-72 course that stretches 7,207 yards. The top eight teams and top two individuals not on one of those eight teams advance to the NCAA Championships May 28-31 at the Karsten Creek course in Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State, host).

Making the trip for the Commodores will be two seniors and three sophomores. Senior Brandt Snedeker headlines the group as he makes his third consecutive appearance in the NCAA East Regional. As a sophomore, Snedeker, who was the first Commodore men’s golfer to make it to the NCAA postseason, shot a six-under-par 210 at the Regional to tie for 10th place. However, he lost the sudden playoff for the right to advance to the NCAA Championship.

Last year as a junior, Snedeker finished the NCAA East Regional as the top individual and tied for third place overall after firing a two-under-par 214. The Nashville native then went on to finish tied for 23rd place at the NCAA Championship with an even-par four-round score of 284.

Sophomore Lance Goodson, who joins Snedeker as the only two Commodores to play in all 12 tournaments this season, also will be playing for the Commodores. After firing a one-under-par 215 at this past week’s Atlanta Intercollegiate, Goodson moved into second on the Vanderbilt team with a 74.00 stroke average in 34 rounds. He heads into the NCAA East Regional after recording top-20 finishes in three of the past four events.

Sophomore Mark Donnell and senior Craig Dunlap are next for the Vanderbilt contingent. With slight struggles in the past three tournaments, Donnell slipped to third on the team with his 74.29 stroke average. He is looking to return to the form that netted him back-to-back top-10 finishes in March.

For Dunlap, he did not compete in last week’s Atlanta Intercollegiate, but he is still fourth on the team with his 74.93 stroke average. Vanderbilt fans are hoping he can provide the solid and consistent play that will allow the Commodores to advance.

Rounding out the traveling squad for Vanderbilt is sophomore Ben McClung, who has played in the bookend events of the spring season. He finished tied for 55th at the Gator Invitational in early February and then finished tied for 44th at last week’s Atlanta Invitational. The 44th-place finish was third-best for Vanderbilt and provided Head Coach Press McPhaul with enough confidence to insert him into this week’s lineup.

Vanderbilt enters the Regional ranked No. 33 in the Golfweek/Sagarin poll, which puts them sixth in the SEC. Individually, Snedeker is ranked sixth by Golfstat and seventh in the Golfweek/Sagarin poll and is currently the top golfer in the SEC.

2003 NCAA East Regional

1. Clemson
2. Augusta State
3. Wake Forest
4. Florida
5. Auburn
6. Georgia Tech
7. Tennessee
8. South Carolina
9. College of Charleston
10. Vanderbilt
11. Virginia Tech
12. East Tennessee State
13. Duke
14. Georgia State
15. North Carolina-Wilmington
16. Alabama
17. Jacksonville State
18. Georgia Southern
19. Penn State
20. Charleston Southern
21. Maryland
22. James Madison
23. Rhode Island
24. Yale
25. New York-Binghamton
26. Liberty
27. Jackson State