University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Carpet Capital Collegiate
Vols Tied for Second at Carpet Capital Collegiate
September 11, 2009 | Men's Golf
Sept. 11, 2009
David Holmes and Darren Renwick fired 1-under-par 71s Friday to propel Tennessee to a tie for second place after the opening round of the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Rocky Face, Ga.
The Vols, making their season debut, trail first-day leader Alabama by a single stroke in a tightly bunched field of teams. Only six strokes separate the top eight squads after The Farm (par 72) yielded an average score of 74.57. Tennessee was slightly better than average with a 2-over-par team score of 290.
South Carolina and Clemson also stand at 290, with Chattanooga (291), Georgia (292), Auburn (293) and Georgia Tech (295) close behind in the 12-team field. Mississippi's Jonathan Randolph is the individual leader at 68.
Holmes and Renwick led the way for the Vols, but Robin Wingardh also turned in an even-par 72 as UT and Alabama were the only teams with three golfers among the top 18. Justin Walker rounded out the Tennessee scoring with a 76.
Tennessee started the day on the 10th tee box, and Holmes dropped two shots on the very first hole. But birdies by the senior at 11, 12, 15, 16 and 17 produced a 3-under first nine holes. The Knoxville native got it to 4 under one hole later before faltering. Holmes made four bogeys over his inward nine against just one more birdie to card his 71.
The seven birdies by Holmes matched first-day honors.
Renwick began his day bogey-birdie, and then added birdies at the 13th and 18th holes to make the turn at 2 under par. His only backside blemish came on a bogey at the par-4 third as the sophomore also finished at 71.
Wingardh had a bounce-back sort of day, carding bogeys twice on his front nine -- Nos. 11 and 17 -- and both times answering with birdies on the very next hole. But he wasn't able to respond to a double-bogey 6 on the par-4 14th and settled for a 2-over front side. The junior erased those two shots with birdies on his first two holes after the break, and then answered his final bogey at 6 with another birdie at the seventh for an even-par 72.
Walker was 3 over for his first nine holes, scoring a double at the par-5 12th and a bogey on 18. He rallied on the second nine with birdies at Nos. 1, 2 and 7, nearly offsetting bogeys at the third and fifth holes and another double-bogey at the eighth to finish at 76.
Freshman Jay Vandeventer debuted with an 81 but saved his best golf for last. He began with a double at No. 10, and then added bogeys at 14, 16 and 17 to finish 5 over for his first nine. Two more doubles at the second and sixth holes were sandwiched around bogeys at Nos. 3 and 4 before the Bristol native rallied with a pair of birdies over his final three holes.
Round 2 begins Saturday at 9 a.m., with Tennessee again paired alongside Texas Tech and Ole Miss. Live scoring is available on UTsports.com and golfstat.com.
| TEAM SCORES | ||
| 1. | Alabama | 289 (+1) |
| t-2. | TENNESSEE | 290 (+2) |
| t-2. | Clemson | 290 (+2) |
| t-2. | South Carolina | 290 (+2) |
| 5. | Chattanooga | 291 (+3) |
| 6. | Georgia | 292 (+4) |
| 7. | Auburn | 293 (+5) |
| 8. | Georgia Tech | 295 (+7) |
| 9. | Wake Forest | 298 (+10) |
| 10. | East Tennessee State | 299 (+11) |
| 11. | Texas Tech | 302 (+14) |
| 12. | Mississippi | 304 (+16) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS | ||
| 1. | Jonathan Randolph, Mississippi | 68 (-4) |
| 2. | John Stembridge, Auburn | 69 (-3) |
| t-3. | Lee Knox, Alabama | 70 (-2) |
| t-3. | Paul Woodbury, South Carolina | 70 (-2) |
| t-3. | Ben Martin, Clemson | 70 (-2) |
| UT SCORES | ||
| t-6. | Darren Renwick | 71 (-1) |
| t-6. | David Holmes | 71 (-1) |
| t-13. | Robin Wingardh | 72 (E) |
| t-40. | Justin Walker | 76 (+4) |
| 58. | Jay Vandeventer | 81 (+9) |
Players Mentioned
