Men’s golf finishes 3rd in first tourney

The men’s golf team was led by Bobby Wyatt to a third place finish in its first tournament of the year, the Carpet Capital Collegiate, after carding a 1-over-par score as a team over 54 holes.

Texas won the tournament outright with a score of 13-under-par as a team. Georgia took the silver medal and was nine strokes ahead of the Tide. Alabama beat LSU and Clemson by six strokes, who tied for fourth place.

Wyatt was 7-under for the tournament, finishing in a tie-for-fourth. He finished five strokes behind the overall winner, Brandon Stone of Texas.

Justin Thomas finished in 10th with a 54-hole score of 3-under-par. Tom Lovelady finished tied-for-26th and Cory Whitsett ended his tournament in a tie-for-31st.

Alabama will hit the links again in two weeks for the PING Golfweek Preview.

Men’s golf slips in second round

It was Scoring Day at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga., today, but not for the Tide. Alabama shot a 1-over-par 289 in the second round of the Carpet Capital Collegiate and fell from second- to a tie for third-place, now 14-strokes behind the leader.

The Texas Longhorns torched the course today, shooting 22-under-par as a team and moving to 3-stroke lead over yesterday’s leaders, Georgia. Alabama is in a deadlock with Clemson for third place.

Alabama was led by sophomore Justin Thomas today, as he put together a 2-under-par 70 to put himself in a tie-for-14th heading into the final round. Bobby Wyatt fell from second to tied-for-6th after his even-par 72 today. Wyatt was joined by Tom Lovelady with an even-par round.

Cory Whitsett show a 3-over-par 75 and was the final recorded score for the Tide. Scott Strohmeyer had his score dropped again, carding a 4-over-par 76.

Alabama will play its final round of the tournament tomorrow.

Men’s golf in 2nd after first round of the season

Alabama may be No. 1 in the preseason rankings, but it is currently in second behind Georgia after one round of the Carpet Capital Collegiate hosted by The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga.

As a team, the Tide shot a 4-under-par 284 score, which is six strokes behind Georgia’s team score of 278, 10-under-par. LSU wraps up a SEC 1-2-3 after Round One with a 2-under-par 286. Auburn is in fifth with a 1-over-par 289.

Bobby Wyatt is in second individually after shooting a 5-under-par 67 in the opening round. He was the only Tide player to shoot under par, as Cory Whitsett and Justin Thomas both shot even-par at 72 to end the day tied-for-22nd and Tom Lovelady shot a 1-over-par 73.

Scott Strohmeyer struggled to the tune of a 5-over-par 77, finishing as the Tide’s one dropped score. Alabama also had Trey Mullinax playing as an individual and shooting a even-par 72.

Alabama will play the second of three rounds tomorrow.

Men’s and women’s golf voted preseason No. 1

With four of five starters returning for each team, both the Alabama men’s and women’s golf teams were ranked No. 1 in the preseason coaches’ poll that was released today. The women’s team won the national championship last year while the men’s team was the national runner-up.

The women’s team loses Brooke Pancake, but will return Jennifer Kirby for her senior season in addition to Stephanie Meadow and Hannah Collier. Johanna Tillstrom and Courtney McKim are also returning.

The men’s team will return the best player in collegiate golf last year, now-sophomore Justin Thomas, alongside Bobby Wyatt and Cory Whitsett. Alabama will lose the captain of last year’s team, Hunter Hamrick.

In the women’s poll, 10 of the 25 teams were from the Southeastern Conference, including Alabama at No. 1 and SEC teams from Nos. 7-11. The men’s team is at the top of six teams from the SEC in the top 25.

The men’s team will open play for the 2012-2013 season in the Carpet Capital Collegiate from Sept. 7-9 at The Farm Golf Club in Rocky Face, Ga. The women’s team starts their title defense in the Cougar Classic presented by Piggly Wiggly from Sept. 9-11 at Yeamans Hall Club in Charleston, S.C.

Cory Whitsett setting the competition ablaze

Experts in the game say that off time in golf can be just as important as relentless practice. While that is true, there is still a little bit of time for collegiate golfers to compete after the en of their school’s fall schedule, before the weather gets too cold for them to practice.

That small gap in the schedule is more than enough for Cory Whitsett to play some dominating golf, winning two tournaments in just over a month. He put together a 7-under par performance in the All-America Golf Classic, earning himself a spot in a three-way play-off with a golfer from the SEC’s newest member, Missouri, and another from San Diego State. The Aztecs’ representative was eliminated in the first play-off hole, and Whitsett was able to beat Missouri’s medalist hope in the third play-off hole.

Whitsett also got a win in the Patriot All-America tournament, shooting a 14-under par for the tournament. He beat the second place finisher by three strokes, fellow Alabama golfer Bobby Wyatt. To make it all even better, the tournament was honoring our military men and women that gave their lives in the line of duty. Each golfer in the tournament represented a specific fallen soldier and carried that soldier’s name on his bag.

Whitsett will now take some time off from golf before returning to Tuscaloosa just after the BCS National Championship Game to work on his game for championship season.

BrettAtBama Semester In Review: Men’s Golf

From the looks of it, Jay Seawell leads his team to play every tournament like the national championship is on the line. In this installment of the BrettAtBama Semester In Review series, we’re going to look at how the men’s golf team tore apart the competition and asserted itself as a top five team going into the championship season in the spring.

The Tide started to make a name for itself early, finishing 4th as a team in the Carpet Capital Collegiate and getting the medalist honors in the process, thanks to freshman Justin Thomas.

The usual suspects, Bobby Wyatt and Hunter Hamrick, led the Tide often as individuals this semester. Wyatt did just that in the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational and was second to Hunter Hamrick in the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.

Seawell saw everything he could ever want to see out of his team in the fall season. He saw Hamrick and Wyatt live up to their expectations, as well as a “difference maker” in Thomas. These three add up to great things for the Alabama men’s golf team, which starts preparing for the spring championship season with the Puerto Rico Classic, beginning on Feb. 19th.

Alabama shows well in home tourney

Some readers in the older generations remember well when Alabama was playing home games outside of Tuscaloosa, especially the football team in Birmingham’s Legion Field. While that doesn’t happen anymore for most teams, men’s golf holds to it, hosting their home tournament, the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, at the Old Overton Club in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.

In Vestavia Hills, Alabama came in second to continue a streak of excellent golf in the fall preseason. Senior Hunter Hamrick led the Tide in this tournament, finishing in fourth individually. Clemson’s Corbin Mills took medalist honors this year. Super sophomore Bobby Wyatt wasn’t too far behind, finishing tied for 13th.

In its last action of the fall preseason, the Tide will look to defend its title in the Isleworth Collegiate Invitational from Oct. 23rd to 25th.

Men’s Golf Keeps High Quality Play Coming in the Fall

In my introductory post to Jay Seawell’s team, I applauded their ability to play quality golf even in the fall preseason when many other teams are working out some basic kinks in their game.

Alabama came back for more in the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational, finishing in fourth and only two shots behind second place. The Tide went into the final day of the tournament on Sept. 18th wanting to win the final day, and they did exactly that.

Coach Seawell called it a good comeback day. He said that the team showed signs of being a good team but still has some work to do.

Super sophomore Bobby Wyatt led the team individually, finishing tied for 5th at 4-over-par. The Tide also got top 25 finishes from two freshmen, Justin Thomas and Tom Lovelady.

Up next, Alabama will host the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate at Old Overton Club in Vestavia Hills, Ala., on Oct. 3rd and 4th.

The Tide on the Links

Ever get tired of waiting for your favorite sport’s season to start? Does the wait from January to September or from April to November seem like several years?

Not in golf. These boys are playing all year long. The Tide will play four preseason tournaments this fall before picking things up in the spring in a mad dash towards the SEC and NCAA championship season, which concludes with a six-day NCAA tournament that ends on June 3rd.

Alabama will even host a tournament, the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, in Vestavia Hills, Ala., on Oct. 3-4.

Head coach Jay Seawell hopes that this year’s Tide team will relieve the impact of Bud Cauley’s departure to the PGA with stellar play from sophomore Bobby Wyatt and senior Hunter Hamrick.

You will be able to see updates on this team’s tournaments, which stretch from Los Angeles, Cali., to Puerto Rico and many places in between, as well as photos and hopefully videos here at brettatbama.wordpress.com all the way up to the Tide’s likely berth in the final NCAA Championship tournament.