University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Battle at the Beach
Vols Climb to 10th-Place Finish in California
February 16, 2010 | Men's Golf
Feb. 16, 2010
Tennessee's golfing odyssey to the Battle at the Beach ended Tuesday with a 10th-place finish, highlighted by a final-round 65 from Knoxville's David Holmes.
UT's senior captain bogeyed his first hole but was brilliant thereafter, recording seven birdies the rest of the way to vault from 53rd place entering Tuesday's action to a tie for 19th at even-par 213. Holmes, in fact, recorded six of his birdies on the back nine to score a tournament-field low 29 over those nine holes.
Tennessee finished the three-day event 30 strokes over par at 1095, trading positions during the afternoon with 11th-place Notre Dame (1096). The Vols were never in contention after their opening-round score of 16-over 371, which came on the heels of the team's chaotic trip west that took 34 hours thanks to the unusual snowstorm that struck Atlanta late last week.
UT missed the practice round at Pelican Hill Golf Club and did not arrive in the Los Angeles area until Saturday evening.
UCLA (1055) rallied to edge Arkansas and Washington (both 1056) by a single stroke for the team title, while Arkansas' David Lingmerth shared medalist honors with Washington's Chris Williams at 8-under-par 205. Lingmerth trailed second-round leader Williams by seven strokes entering Tuesday before shooting 64.
Robin Wingardh returned to form for the Vols, firing a 1-under-par 70 that included three birdies. The Morarp, Sweden, junior tied for 56th place at 9 over par -- with eight of those strokes coming on his back nine 43 in Sunday's opening round.
James Brannen shot 75 to cap off his best collegiate tournament. The Clarksville senior was 5 over par Tuesday after just two holes, but rallied for the second day in a row with four birdies against only three more bogeys. Brannen's 224 total for 64th place was two strokes better than his previous career low of 226 set at last year's Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational.
Cameron Lawrence and Darren Renwick had matching 77s. Lawrence capped his round with back-to-back birdies for the second day in a row to finish in a tie for 75th at 229, while Renwick had just a lone birdie en route to tying his season high. The sophomore began the day tied for 10th but finished in a tie for 40th at 218.
Jay Vandeventer closed out the Tennessee roster with a 79 to finish at 223.
Tennessee's next tournament begins Feb. 28 at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The three-day event takes place at Sawgrass Country Club.
| TEAM SCORES | ||
| 1. | UCLA | 354-353-348--1055 (-10) |
| t-2. | Arkansas | 349-361-346--1056 (-9) |
| t-2. | Washington | 353-351-352--1056 (-9) |
| 4. | Oregon State | 348-353-357--1060 (-5) |
| 5. | San Diego State | 352-367-351--1070 (+5) |
| 6. | Arizona State | 359-363-352--1074 (+9) |
| 7. | Colorado State | 361-361-354--1076 (+11) |
| 8. | Texas-Arlington | 364-351-364--1079 (+14) |
| 9. | Long Beach State | 358-369-367--1094 (+29) |
| 10. | TENNESSEE | 371-360-364--1095 (+30) |
| 11. | Notre Dame | 366-364-366--1096 (+31) |
| 12. | Colorado | 369-365-363--1097 (+32) |
| t-13. | UC Davis | 375-368-370--1113 (+48) |
| t-13. | San Francisco | 373-368-372--1113 (+48) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS | ||
| t-1. | David Lingmerth, Arkansas | 70-71-64--205 (-8) |
| t-1. | Chris Williams, Washington | 69-65-71--205 (-8) |
| t-3. | Jamie Marshall, Arkansas | 71-70-65--206 (-7) |
| t-3. | Diego Velasquez, Oregon State | 66-71-68--206 (-7) |
| t-3. | Pontus Widegren, UCLA | 70-72-64--206 (-7) |
| UT SCORES | ||
| t-19. | David Holmes | 76-72-65--213 (E) |
| t-40. | Darren Renwick | 73-68-77--218 (+5) |
| t-56. | Robin Wingardh | 78-74-70--222 (+9) |
| t-58. | Jay Vandeventer | 71-73-79--223 (+10) |
| t-64. | James Brannen | 73-76-75--224 (+11) |
| t-75. | Cameron Lawrence | 79-73-77--229 (+16) |
Players Mentioned
