University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Carpet Capital Collegiate
Vols Open with Strong 2nd-Place Effort
September 11, 2011 | Men's Golf
Sept. 11, 2011
BY JOHN PAINTER
UTSports.com
ROCKY FACE, Ga. -- Tennessee leaves this week's Carpet Capital Collegiate with a mixed-bag of emotions.
The Vols knocked off all but one of the six ranked squads in the 12-team field, finishing second here Sunday after shooting their second consecutive sub-par round. But the team also knows even better days are ahead if the play this weekend is any indication.
"They should be encouraged," UT head coach Jim Kelson said. "They played well; they played solid. But they thought they left just enough shots out there where they could have made it a little bit closer."
Tennessee shot 6-under 282 Sunday to finish alone in second place at 8-under 856, five strokes behind ninth-ranked Auburn (851). For the weekend's final two rounds, Tennessee was 13 under par and outdistanced third-ranked Alabama, fourth-ranked Georgia Tech, No. 15 Georgia, No. 16 Clemson and No. 17 LSU.
UT entered the weekend receiving votes but ranked just outside the top 25 according to the Golf World/Nike Golf Division I College Preseason Coaches' Poll.
"It's nice to get off to a good start because it's always really important, especially after our start last year," Kelson said. The Vols finished eighth here a year ago and were no better than fifth in four fall tournaments for 2010."
Tennessee Twosome
Two reasons for encouragement this weekend were the play of Marshall Talkington and Jay Vandeventer.
Talkington lowered his collegiate best score for the second day in a row, shooting 69 Sunday thanks to a back nine of just 32 strokes.
"It feels really good to be able to play so well in the final round, especially when I knew we needed it," Talkington said. "It wasn't enough today, but it's a great way to start and I'm really happy about that."
Talkington was 1 over par at the turn but then posted four consecutive 3s to begin his back nine, including an eagle at the par-5, 498-yard 12th hole.
"They set up 12 to go after it today with a front pin," Talkington said. "I missed my drive a little bit right and was in the rough, but I had a good lie and a 5-iron in. I just went right at the hole and hit it to about 4 feet and made the putt."
The Jackson sophomore finished in a tie for 25th place at 3-over 219.
Best Collegiate Finish
Vandeventer finished alone in seventh for his best collegiate showing. He went 69-70 on the weekend to settle at 4-under-par 212.
"I can't complain at all," Vandeventer said. "I hit the ball well today and made really good decisions. I wish I could have made a few more putts, but I'm happy with that finish."
Vandeventer, whose previous best placement was a tie for 10th in last season's California Battle at the Beach, kept his head up after opening the front nine with 37. The Bristol sophomore shot a bogey-free 33 on the back.
"Out here, you've just got to keep your composure and just stay positive because there are a lot of birdies on the back nine," said Vandeventer, who had three of those Sunday. "I just stuck with the same mentality and game plan and tried to have some fun."
Garrick Porteous quietly shot 71 to tie for third place at 5-under 211. The senior carded three birdies Sunday to finish the tournament with 14 -- one shy of the individual lead in that category.
"It was an up-and-down round," Porteous said. "I didn't hit the ball as well today and didn't hit too many greens, but 1 under is not a bad score."
Tennessee's final one-stroke edge over third-place Georgia Tech hinged on Porteous getting up-and-down from a high bank overlooking the 18th green. But he deftly stroked his third shot to within 6 feet and made the putt.
"I made really good up-and-downs on 17 and 18, so I held it together a bit," Porteous said.
Steady Keddie
Danny Keddie added 72 to close out the UT scoring. Five of Keddie's six nine-hole scores this week were even-par 36 -- including both on Sunday -- to go with one 35 for a three-day total of 1-under 215. The sophomore finished in a tie for 14th place.
"It's definitely bittersweet because I hit the ball so well that I should have finished at least 10 shots better," Keddie said. "I should have been tearing it up this week with how well I hit it, but I couldn't get the ball in the hole and I made some of the silliest bogeys I've ever made.
"It's three solids rounds when you look at it but it's a bit disappointing, really. I should have shot low all three rounds and I didn't shoot low once."
Despite his disappointment, Keddie nailed his fifth top-15 result in just nine tournaments at Tennessee.
Darren Renwick closed with 74 to cap a rally of sorts from his opening round 78. The senior finished in a tie for 42nd at 9-over-par 225.
"I'm certainly happy to play just a little bit better on the weekend," Renwick said. "I still didn't play my best golf. I didn't feel good on the greens all week, so I've got work to do there.
"The back nine, I actually played solid all three rounds. But I couldn't piece together a good score."
Behind Auburn and Tennessee, Georgia Tech was third at 7-under 857 thanks to the tournament's best round Sunday of 14-under 274. Alabama (862), Clemson (863) and Chattanooga (864) closed out the top six teams. Alabama's Justin Thomas claimed medalist honors at 10-under 206 behind a closing round of 65.
Tennessee returns to action Oct. 1-2 at the Rod Myers Invitational in Durham, N.C.
| TEAM SCORES | ||
| 1. | Auburn | 290-279-282--851 (-13) |
| 2. | TENNESSEE | 293-281-282--856 (-8) |
| 3. | Georgia Tech | 286-297-274--857 (-7) |
| 4. | Alabama | 291-284-287--862 (-2) |
| 5. | Clemson | 287-287-289--863 (-1) |
| 6. | Chattanooga | 287-287-290--864 (E) |
| 7. | Georgia | 289-293-290--872 (+8) |
| 8. | LSU | 294-291-288--873 (+9) |
| 9. | Kennesaw State | 301-288-290--879 (+15) |
| 10. | Wake Forest | 298-291-298--887 (+23) |
| T-11. | Middle Tennessee | 297-298-295--890 (+26) |
| T-11. | South Carolina | 295-295-300--890 (+26) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS | ||
| 1. | Justin Thomas, Alabama | 71-70-65--206 (-10) |
| 2. | Benjamin Weilguni, Chattanooga | 72-67-71--210 (-6) |
| T-3. | Garrick Porteous, TENNESSEE | 72-68-71--211 (-5) |
| T-3. | Bryden Macpherson, Georgia | 72-67-72--211 (-5) |
| T-3. | Anders Albertson, Georgia Tech | 74-70-67--211 (-4) |
| T-3. | Sang Yi, LSU | 72-69-70--211 (-5) |
| UT SCORES | ||
| T-3. | Garrick Porteous | 72-68-71--211 (-5) |
| 7. | Jay Vandeventer | 73-69-70--212 (-4) |
| T-14. | Danny Keddie | 72-71-72--215 (-1) |
| T-25. | Marshall Talkington | 76-74-69--219 (+3) |
| T-42. | Darren Renwick | 78-73-74--225 (+9) |
