The University of Arkansas could not make up any ground on the rest of the field Friday and fell short of qualifying for the match play segment of the SEC Men’s Golf Championships at Sea Island Golf Club on St. Simons Island, Ga.
The No. 10 Razorbacks posted a 7-over 287 in the final round to finish in 10th place, seven shots short of forcing a playoff for the final spot in the top eight.
No. 3 Vanderbilt held off challenges from No. 16 Florida, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 25 LSU to grab the top seed for match play on the par-70 layout. The Commodores carded a 3 under Friday and ended stroke play at 16 under. The Aggies shot 7 under Friday and placed second at 13 under, followed by the Gators (-12) and LSU (-9).
The day’s biggest drama came in the fight for eighth, where Mississippi State held off Auburn by a stroke after the Tigers shot a final round 9 over to the Bulldogs’ 5 over.
Mississippi State will take on Vanderbilt in the first of two rounds of match play this morning. The other pairings: 2 seed Texas A&M vs. 7 seed Tennessee (+3); 3 seed Florida vs. 6 seed Georgia (Even); and 4 seed LSU vs. 5 seed Missouri (-1).
Florida junior John Dubois, who fired a 6-under 64 on Thursday to charge into contention, won medalist honors with a 6 under, holding off Vanderbilt freshman Gordon Sargent by a stroke. Vanderbilt’s Cole Sherwood and LSU’s Cohen Trolio tied for third at 4 under, and six golfers tied for fifth place at 3 under.
The top finisher for the Razorbacks was junior Wil Gibson of Jonesboro, who shot a 69 on Friday to reach 2 over and a tie for 25th.
Defending individual champion Segundo Oliva Pinto had an eventful day with four birdies and two double bogeys en route to a 72 that left the Arkansas senior at 3 over and tied for 34th.
Junior Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira posted a final round 71 and finished at 4 over, tied for 39th. Seniors Luke Long of Fayetteville and Julian Perico each shot 75 on Friday, with Long tying for 42nd at 5 over and Perico tying for 52nd at 8 over.
The Razorbacks will await their NCAA regional destination to one of six sites hosted by Alabama, Florida Atlantic, Ohio State, Pacific, Texas A&M and Yale.
The match play quarterfinals and semifinals will be played today with 6:30 a.m. Central and 12:15 p.m. Central start times, and the championship match is scheduled for Sunday at 7 a.m. Central.