Okay, so last night my buddy shoots me a text asking if I knew how Vanderbilt’s golf teams were doing lately. Honestly? I had no clue. Figured it’d be quick to look up. Spoiler: it wasn’t.
Starting Point Was A Mess
Jumped straight to Google, punching in “Vanderbilt golf championships.” Immediate problem: tons of old articles about some player named Gordon Sargent kept popping up first. Dude left for the pros last year apparently. Not helpful. Kept scrolling past ads and outdated junk.
Next, hit Vanderbilt’s official athletics site. Their layout? Brutal. Couldn’t find golf under “sports” at first. Had to click drop-down menus like five times. Finally landed on golf pages. Saw tabs for “men’s” and “women’s” – score one point for organization, I guess.
Untangling The Women’s Team First
Clicked into women’s golf cause my buddy mentioned hearing about them crushing it. Found a “news” section buried under schedules. Took ages to load.
Started skimming recent headlines:
- April 2024: Won the SEC Championship outright. Beat Alabama by 17 strokes. Seventeen! That’s wild for golf.
- March 2024: Snagged the Mason Rudolph Championship (their home event, but still counts).
- Browsed further back: Found NCAA appearances stacked like pancakes – 2021, 2022, 2023, now 2024. They don’t miss.
Scrolled down looking for player stats. Saw a freshman named Caiyla O’Connor made All-SEC something. Freshman! Crazy talent pipeline there.
Men’s Side Got Complicated
Switched to the men’s page. Big banner photo showed some trophy I didn’t recognize. Dug into their 2024 season archive. More “runner-up” finishes than wins – like 2nd at the Carmel Cup back in September ’23. Felt underwhelming till I spotted something deeper in the newsfeed.
They actually grabbed the East Lake Cup in November ‘23! Beat the crap outta North Carolina. Never heard of that tournament before today. Shows how much I pay attention. Also noticed their 2023 spring season had a 2nd place finish at SECs. Consistent but not dominating like the women.
Stumbled on a table listing NCAA appearances dating back years. Made it to NCAA Regionals consistently since 2019. Solid, but couldn’t find deep championship runs beyond 2022 finals.
Why This Took Way Too Long
Ended up cross-checking everything with some college sports site cause Vanderbilt’s own records felt scattered. Found more stats hiding under “history” pages I initially missed. Realized the women’s team’s current streak started ramping up around 2021. Before that? Pretty quiet.
Biggest headache? Old records mix team and individual stuff randomly. Saw headlines like “Sargent Wins NCAA Individual Title (2022)” cluttering team results. Had to mentally separate those. Feels like Vanderbilt leans harder into promoting star alums than current team success sometimes.
Oh, and that “SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll” stuff? Skipped it entirely. Just wanted scores, not report cards.
Final Takeaways For Me
Wasted 45 minutes total. Lessons learned:
- Women’s team dominates right now. Like, seriously dominates. SEC title and 2024 NCAA bid secured.
- Men’s team is competitive but hasn’t exploded like 2022. Close calls and regular playoff trips.
- Official sites drown you in press releases. Dig past the fluff.
Texted my buddy: “Women = crushing it. Men = always in the mix.” Should’ve just asked someone who follows college golf. Next time? I will.
