Vandy rallies past Tech in NCAA men's golf quarterfinals
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Shortly after every player had made the turn Tuesday and was on to the back nine at Grayhawk Golf Club, Texas Tech was in position not only to beat Vanderbilt but to pull off a sweep.
For a brief moment, all five Red Raiders players had 1-up leads with between 10 and 14 holes completed.
Then Vanderbilt showed why it was the No. 1 seed.
Vandy roared back and beat No. 8 seed Tech 3-2, ending the Red Raiders' season in the match-play quarterfinals of the NCAA championship tournament. Tech's points came from Sandy Scott, who outlasted William Moll 2 & 1, and Ludvig Aberg, a 1-up winner over Cole Sherwood.
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Scott's victory was especially notable. The former two-time second-team all-American returned to tournament play in March after a 17-month absence for a wrist injury that required two surgeries.
The Red Raiders needed one more victory, though.
"Proud of the guys," Tech coach Greg Sands said. "It hurts. You want it so bad for them, it hurts really bad. But it's a great group of guys. Loved to see Sandy win a match after being gone so much. He was 2-down early and came back and won a match. That gave us a shot."
Harrison Ott, Reid Davenport and Gordon Sargent led the Commodores' comeback. On Monday, Sargent became one of nine players to win the NCAA individual championship as a freshman, joining a list that includes Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange and Phil Mickelson.
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Ott downed Andy Lopez 3 & 2, tying the match at one point apiece. Reid Davenport edged Calum Scott 1-up, and Sargent downed Baard Skogen 3 & 1.
"Felt like we were in control somewhat with four, five, six holes to go," Sands said, "but they were all so close, it doesn't take much.
"You've got to give credit to Vanderbilt. They made a lot of putts down the stretch. We didn't quite make as many. We did early on, and it was nice to see that, because we really weren't doing that in stroke play.
"Just tip your hat on that one. But it still stings for these guys. They're such good guys, too."
All four quarterfinal matches ended 3-2. No. 4 seed Texas beat No. 5 seed Oklahoma State, No. 6 Pepperdine held off No. 3 seed North Carolina, and No. 7 seed Arizona State toppled No. 2 seed Oklahoma.
In afternoon semifinals, Texas took out Vanderbilt 4-1, and Arizona State was a 4-1 winner over Pepperdine, last year's champion. The Longhorns and the Sun Devils will play for the championship on Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Vanderbilt rallies past Texas Tech in NCAA men's golf quarterfinals
