University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational
Vols Ride Wingardh's Play to Fifth
March 18, 2011 | Men's Golf
March 18, 2011
Robin Wingardh is challenging once again for medalist honors and Tennessee landed three players in the top 15 Friday to assume fifth place after 18 holes at the Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, Ga.
Wingardh opened with a 3-under-par 69 and trails first-day leader Bank Vongvanij of Florida by three strokes and Auburn's Blayne Barber by one. Vongvanij and Wingardh were the top two finishers at the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational back in October, and Vongvanij is ranked third nationally by Golfstat.com
UT's senior captain is ranked 37th but has only gotten better and better as the season has progressed, chalking up top-10 showings in three of his last four events. Friday he birdied three of the last seven holes to move into a group of six players tied for third. Wingardh finished with six birdies against just three bogeys.
Teammates Garrick Porteous and Darren Renwick are tied for 15th after firing even-par 72s, while Jay Vandeventer closed out the Tennessee scoring with a 4-over 76. Freshmen Danny Keddie and Marshall Talkington shot 81s.
Middle of the SEC Pack
Of the eight SEC schools in this week's 15-team field, Tennessee trails three and leads four after the first day at Forest Heights Country Club. Auburn (279), Florida (282) and LSU (287) top the first-day leaderboard, with Virginia (288) one stroke better than Tennessee's 1-over-par 289. Vanderbilt (302), Mississippi State (303), Ole Miss (304) and Kentucky (306) enter Saturday as the bottom four teams.
Tennessee's Porteous was 2 over par through eight holes before he birdied four of a seven-hole stretch to record his fifth round of par or better this year. Renwick birdied three holes, including the 18th, to offset three bogeys and join the group of 10 golfers at even par.
Vandeventer was 3 over on the front nine and then doubled the par-4 10th hole. But the sophomore rallied to play his last eight holes in 1 under par and improved to a tie for 53rd place.
Keddie made the turn at 1 under par before the bottom dropped out. Five bogeys, a double and a triple pushed the freshman to a tie for 80th place. Talkington also is tied for 80th after triple-bogeying his very first hole and playing the entire 18 without a birdie. The Jackson product once again is competing as an individual this week.
Tennessee resumes play Saturday at 9:45 a.m. Eastern time on the No. 1 tee alongside Virginia and Notre Dame. Saturday's weather forecast calls for sunny skies and a high in the upper-80s by afternoon, with winds at 9 mph.
Live scoring is available at UTSports.com, via Golfstat.com.
| TEAM SCORES | ||
| 1. | Auburn | 279 (-9) |
| 2. | Florida | 282 (-6) |
| 3. | LSU | 287 (-1) |
| 4. | Virginia | 288 (E) |
| 5. | TENNESSEE | 289 (+1) |
| T-6. | Notre Dame | 291 (+3) |
| T-6. | North Florida | 291 (+3) |
| T-8. | North Carolina State | 292 (+4) |
| T-8. | North Carolina | 292 (+4) |
| 10. | Georgia Southern | 297 (+9) |
| 11. | Minnesota | 301 (+13) |
| 12. | Vanderbilt | 302 (+14) |
| 13. | Mississippi State | 303 (+15) |
| 14. | Mississippi | 304 (+16) |
| 15. | Kentucky | 306 (+18) |
| INDIVIDUAL LEADERS | ||
| 1. | Bank Vongvanij, Florida | 66 (-6) |
| 2. | Blayne Barber, Auburn | 68 (-4) |
| T-3. | Robin Wingardh, TENNESSEE | 69 (-3) |
| T-3. | Niclas Carlsson, Auburn | 69 (-3) |
| T-3. | Phillip Choi, Florida | 69 (-3) |
| T-3. | Austin Gutgsell, LSU | 69 (-3) |
| T-3. | John Peterson, LSU | 69 (-3) |
| T-3. | Niall Platt, Notre Dame | 69 (-3) |
| UT SCORES | ||
| T-3. | Robin Wingardh | 69 (-3) |
| T-15. | Garrick Porteous | 72 (E) |
| T-15. | Darren Renwick | 72 (E) |
| T-53. | Jay Vandeventer | 76 (+4) |
| T-80. | Danny Keddie | 81 (+9) |
| T-80. | Marshall Talkington * | 81 (+9) |
| *Competing as individual. | ||
Players Mentioned
