The top two teams in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings presented by StrackaLine will go head-to-head on Wednesday in the championship match of the East Lake Cup being held in Atlanta, Georgia.
Top-ranked Vanderbilt rolled over Texas, 3-1-1 to advance to the final against second-ranked Arizona State, which prevailed over Pepperdine, 3 and 2 to earn a spot in the championship match alongside the Commodores.
After freshman Christiaan Maas put the first point on the board for the Longhorns with a 4 and 2 win over Reid Davenport, the middle of Vanderbilt’s powerful lineup took control of the match, as Matthew Riedel, William Moll and Cole Sherwood all rolled to easy 5 and 4 victories, rendering the marquis anchor match between Texas’ Travis Vick and Vandy’s Gordon Sargent mute.
Need a clinching point? Cole Sherwood has us covered.
We're moving on to the finals against Arizona State.#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/O2oO6wnsdG
— Vanderbilt Men's Golf (@VandyMGolf) October 25, 2022
“I’m extremely proud of the way the guys came out and played today,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh. “We talked last night about being excited to play and competing with pride in performance. Every day you get a chance to play is a learning and growing opportunity. I thought each guy did a great job locking in from the start. I’m proud of Matthew and William, who got our first two points, and Cole and Gordon both played really well on the back.”
Meanwhile, the retooled Sun Devils, down four players from last year’s team that advanced to the national final at Grayhawk, continued their strong play in the fall by defeating Pepperdine, 3 and 2 to advance to the title match.
Freshman Luke Potter got the Sun Devils rolling with a 4 and 3 win over Ian Maspat. Preston Summerhays then downed Pepperdine’s Sam Choi, 1 up with a birdie on 18 to give the Sun Devils a 2-0 lead.
On the women’s side, Hailee Cooper’s walk-off eagle on the 18th hole in her match against UCLA’s Emilie Paltrinieri sent third-ranked (Golfweek/Sagarin) Texas A&M into Wednesday’s championship against SEC foe Auburn, which shocked Oregon, thanks to a stunning comeback by redshirt freshman Casey Weidenfeld.
Texas A&M had its hands full with UCLA, a team that struggled to an 18-over finish in stroke play to land the fourth seed.
With East Lake Cup medalist Blanca Fernández García-Poggio and Zoe Slaughter winning their respective matches handily, Zoe Campos and Caroline Canales put two points on the board for the Bruins, leaving Cooper and Paltrinieri to decide things.
The two players were never separated by more than a hole and the match was all square heading into the par-5 18th.
A fortuitous bounce left Cooper’s second shot in front of the green which set up her chip shot that went the length of the green and trickled broke right into the hole to send the Tigers into Wednesday’s title match.
COOP WITH THE WALK-OFF
#GigEm | @eastlakecup pic.twitter.com/C6RbNCFmDG
— Texas A&M Women’s Golf (@aggiewomensgolf) October 25, 2022
“Hailee’s match went back and forth all day long,” Texas A&M head coach Gerrod Chadwell said. “She stepped up and hit a great shot down the middle on 18 off the tee after going all square on 17. Then her eagle shot on 18 was incredible. We really felt like UCLA was going to hit that par putt, so to finish off that match was dramatic and fun.”
Wednesday’s East Lake Cup championship match will be televised live by Golf Channel beginning at 3 p.m. ET.
For the full lineups and more on the men’s event from our partners at AmateurGolf.com, click here.
For the full lineups and more on the women’s event from our partners at AmateurGolf.com, click here.