Vols Slide to Seventh at Sawgrass

Tuesday, February 28

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

All Day

University of Tennessee

John Hayt Collegiate Invitational

February 28, 2012 | Men's Golf

Feb. 28, 2012

A pair of career individual finishes weren't nearly enough to keep Tennessee near the leaders and the Vols dropped to a seventh-place result Tuesday at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational.

Jay Vandeventer closed with a 73 and tied for sixth place, and Brandon Rodgers shot even-par 72 to climb into a tie for 19th. Both placements were career bests for the East Tennessee products.

But the Vols managed a final-round score of just 7-over 295 -- better than only two squads Tuesday in the 15-team field -- and finished at 22-over 886. Arkansas posted the tournament's best round, 7-under 281, and rallied to claim the team trophy at 8-over 872. Central Florida was next at 876, followed by North Florida at 877 and Coastal Carolina at 883, with North Texas and TCU tied at 885.

UT senior Garrick Porteous had his best round of the tournament with a 73, and Danny Keddie scored for the Vols for the first time since the fall with a 77. Rick Lamb closed with 79 and Marshall Talkington, playing as an individual, shot 80.

Vandeventer hovered around the break-even mark all day. He carded three birdies Tuesday to offset two bogeys and a double. The junior finished with a 1-under-par total of 215.

For Vandeventer, it was his second consecutive top-10 finish and his team-leading third for the season. The junior from Bristol moved to second on the squad with a 74.11 stroke average, and his spring scoring average of 72.50 leads the Vols.

Great Start to Spring for Rogers

Rodgers couldn't crack the Tennessee lineup during either the spring or fall of 2011, but the Farragut native is making the most of his revamped game. He rallied Tuesday from a pair of bogeys over the opening five holes to play his last 13 in 2 under par, with birdies on the par-5 eighth and 11th holes.

The sophomore set personal collegiate bests with his finish along with tournament score, which was 5-over 221. Rodgers improved to third on the team with a 74.67 stroke average and has factored into the Tennessee scoring in all six of his spring rounds.

Porteous was 1 under par through 12 holes before slipping out of red numbers with bogeys at the 13th and closing 18th. The senior finished in a tie for 36th place at 8-over 224.

Keddie posted his second straight 77 and showed signs of returning to form. The sophomore rebounded from a pair of early double-bogeys to post four birdies from the seventh through 11th holes. But an eight on the par-4 13th ruined his comeback bid, and Keddie finished in a tie for 76th place at 20-over 236.

Lamb carded an early birdie at the par-4 second hole could muster no more. He made six bogeys and then finished with a double-bogey 7 at the last to fall into a tie for 53rd place at 12-over 228.

Talkington started play on the 10th hole and was just 5 over through 13 holes. But his lone birdie at the par-3 sixth couldn't overcome two doubles over his last five holes, and the sophomore finished in 79th place at 22-over 238.

Tennessee's next tournament is March 11-12 at the Gen. Hackler Championship in Murrells Inlet, S.C.

TEAM SCORES
1.	Arkansas	299-292-281--872 (+8)
2.	Central Florida	294-294-288--876 (+12)
3.	North Florida	300-295-282--877 (+13)
4.	Coastal Carolina	296-302-285--883 (+19)
T-5.	North Texas	298-293-294--885 (+21)
T-5.	TCU	300-293-292--885 (+21)
7.	TENNESSEE	295-296-295--886 (+22)
8.	LSU	298-298-291--887 (+23)
9.	Jacksonville	300-297-291--888 (+24)
T-10.	UAB	307-293-292--892 (+28)
T-10.	Tulsa	304-293-295--892 (+28)
12.	Mississippi	300-306-294--900 (+36)
13.	Georgia Southern	316-292-299--907 (+43)
14.	Furman	306-306-296--908 (+44)
15.	Mercer	309-308-293--910 (+46)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
1.	Julien Brun, TCU	68-71-72--211 (-5)
2.	Johan de Beer, TCU	68-72-72--212 (-4)
3.	Ethan Tracy, Arkansas	74-71-68--213 (-3)
T-4.	Sebastian Soderberg, Coastal Carolina	68-73-73--214 (-2)
T-4.	Sang Yi, LSU	67-73-74--214 (-2)
UT SCORES
T-6.	Jay Vandeventer	72-70-73--215 (-1)
T-19.	Brandon Rodgers	73-76-72--221 (+5)
T-36.	Garrick Porteous	76-75-73--224 (+8)
T-53.	Rick Lamb	74-75-79--228 (+12)
T-76.	Danny Keddie	82-77-77--236 (+20)
79.	Marshall Talkington *	81-77-80--238 (+22)
*Competed as individual.