Vanderbilt stays hot as Cole Sherwood breaks Brandt Snedeker’s longstanding record

Cole Sherwood wasn’t thinking about records. Heck, he wasn’t even thinking about his score as he put together not only the best round in Cabo Collegiate history but also a performance that broke two Vanderbilt scoring marks.

“I was focused on the team,” said Sherwood, a sophomore from Austin, Texas. “I knew we had a lot of ground to make up. There were some good teams ahead of us. I never really thought about individual. I focused on making birdies and eagles for my teammates.”

It worked. Sherwood didn’t just card six birdies in Tuesday’s final round at Cabo del Sol’s Cove Club. His closing 11-under 61, a course record and tournament record by two shots, also included three eagles, including a near albatross that lipped out at the par-5 fourth hole, as he finished the tournament at 17 under, good enough for medalist honors by four shots over Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen.

And behind Sherwood’s record day, which included new 18- and 54-hole program bests (his 196 total was two strokes lower than Brandt Snedeker’s previous school record set at the 2002 Mason Rudolph Championship), the Commodores shot 19-under 265 (that tied Vandy record) to clip Texas Tech by two shots at 32 under for their second win in less than a week.

“I learned a long time ago that when guys are having a day like Cole was, you just stay out of their way and make sure they have enough water and enough food,” said Vanderbilt head coach Scott Limbaugh, whose team won The Prestige last Wednesday by 10 shots.

The Commodores headed straight from Palm Springs to Cabo last Thursday, but it appeared early on Sunday that their momentum had been re-routed. A slow start – 10 over through nine holes – led to a T-6 standing after Round 1. But Vanderbilt withstood thanks in large part to Sherwood and freshman Gordon Sargent, who tied for seventh.

“I think at one point almost halfway through the first round someone came up and told me we had fallen into last place,” Limbaugh said. “So, about 45 holes later we look up and we’ve won the whole thing. I just think that shows a lot about our character and our team and our leadership. Just super proud and really had some guys do some great things this week. It’s exciting to see kids have success. You’re seeing some buy-in and when you start seeing that buy-in good things can happen.”