University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Yale Spring Opener
Vols Cruise to Victory at Yale
April 07, 2012 | Men's Golf
April 7, 2012
Tennessee lived up to its role as the favorite Saturday at the Yale Spring Opener, winning by 17 shots for its first tournament triumph since 2009.
The Vols played The Course at Yale in 14 over par, carding scores of 288 and 286 amid windy and cool conditions for a 36-hole total of 574. Dartmouth was next at 591, followed by Seton Hall (602), Yale (618) and Brown (623).
Rick Lamb won his first collegiate tournament, finishing at 1-under 139 for a one-shot victory. Lamb's previous best result was a solo second at last year's Del Walker Intercollegiate when he was a sophomore at Santa Clara.
Tennessee was the only top-100 team among the 11 on hand in New Haven, Conn., according to the latest Golfstat.com rankings. The Vols came in at No. 46 after their strong showing last week in Augusta. Dartmouth was the next-highest ranked opponent Saturday at No. 107.
"We did a pretty good job and obviously it was great to see Rick win," UT head coach Jim Kelson said. "We still left a few out there, but overall it was good to get a win and build some momentum and confidence. We accomplished that.
"It was a good course and it blew about 20 miles per hour for most of the day. They played a challenging course with tough hole locations, so Rick's was a good score and it would have held up well against some really good teams and good players."
Behind Lamb, Garrick Porteous finished third for the Vols at 2-over 142, Danny Keddie was fifth at 6-over 146, Jay Vandeventer sixth at 7-over 147 and Brandon Rodgers tied for 10th at 10-over 150.
"It's pretty cool to win no matter who you're playing against," Lamb said. "There were a couple of good players from the other teams today and, obviously, Garrick and Jay have been playing pretty well for us. It's nice to be in the mix there and finally get my first college win."
Lamb's previous best finish for the Vols in a stroke-play tournament was a tie for 25th on two occasions. But Lamb won a team-best three times in four tries at the recent Collegiate Match Play Championship and has been close to a breakthrough result.
"I was just trying to keep everything pretty simple and leave myself easy two-putts and an occasional chance at a pin," Lamb said. "I just really tried to limit my mistakes. I've been making dumb errors the last few tournaments and my goal was to not make any of those."
"It's probably been since junior golf," Lamb said of his last tournament without a practice round.
Porteous finished all alone in third on the strength of consecutive 1-over rounds of 71. It was the senior captain's fourth top-10 finish of the year and his second in as many weeks.
Keddie continued his improved play over the last two weeks and posted his best finish since he was third at the Cabo Collegiate to end the fall season. The sophomore shot 74-72 to finish alone in fifth.
Vandeventer was right behind in sixth for his fourth top-10 of the year to tie Porteous in that team category. The junior shot 72-75.
Rodgers had his best collegiate finish with a tie for 10th. The sophomore carded a pair of 75s to better his tie for 19th at the John Hayt Collegiate earlier this spring.
Tennessee's last team win was a tie for first and scorecard playoff win over Oregon State at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate in October 2009. UT's last solo triumph came at the Carpet Capital Collegiate earlier that same fall season. Darren Renwick claimed medalist honors at the 2009 Carpet Capital for Tennessee's last individual victory.
The Vols play next at the SEC Championships, set for April 20-22 at the Sea Island Resort in St. Simons Island, Ga.
| TEAM SCORES | ||
| 1. | TENNESSEE | 288-286--574 (+14) |
| 2. | Dartmouth | 300-291--591 (+31) |
| 3. | Seton Hall | 305-297--602 (+42) |
| 4. | Yale | 307-311--618 (+58) |
| 5. | Brown | 305-318--623 (+63) |
| 6. | Lafayette | 309-316--625 (+65) |
| 7. | Temple | 311-315--626 (+66) |
| 8. | St. Peter's | 316-311--627 (+67) |
| 9. | Colgate | 319-312--631 (+71) |
| 10. | Yale II | 322-319--641 (+81) |
| 11. | Manhattan | 340-307--647 (+87) |
| 12. | Niagara | 348-337--685 (+125) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS | ||
| 1. | Rick Lamb, TENNESSEE | 71-68--139 (-1) |
| 2. | Peter Williamson, Dartmouth | 71-69--140 (E) |
| 3. | Garrick Porteous, TENNESSEE | 71-71--142 (+2) |
| 4. | Troy Spencer, Seton Hall | 74-71--145 (+5) |
| 5. | Danny Keddie, TENNESSEE | 74-72--146 (+6) |
| UT SCORES | ||
| 1. | Rick Lamb | 71-68--139 (-1) |
| 3. | Garrick Porteous | 71-71--142 (+2) |
| 5. | Danny Keddie | 74-72--146 (+6) |
| 6. | Jay Vandeventer | 72-75--147 (+7) |
| T-10. | Brandon Rodgers | 75-75--150 (+10) |
