RIO GRAND, PUERTO RICO ?? The University of Alabama shot even par Tuesday in the final round, the third lowest team round of the day, to finish fourth among a field of 18 teams, 15 of those nationally ranked, at the Puerto Rico Classic.
The Crimson Tide’s sophomore, Matthew Swan, finished two strokes back from the medalist. The Montgomery native shot 69-69-73/211 to finish the tournament at five under par and in a tie for fifth place. Georgia Tech’s Roberto Castro (68-70-71/209) and Stanford’s Joseph Bramlett (69-67-73/209) shared the tournament’s individual championship as both tied with one another at seven under par on the par 72 River Course at the Rio Mar Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Alabama shot 284-283-288/955 to finish nine under par for the tournament. Georgia defeated Clemson and Stanford by a stroke, shooting six over par, 294, in the final round to win the tournament’s championship at 14 under par (279-277-294/850). Clemson and Stanford tied for second place at 13 under par, 851, followed by Alabama (855), East Tennessee State (856), Oklahoma State (862), Minnesota (864), Georgia Tech (865), Florida (867), Virginia Tech (878), Texas (882), Duke (884), Kent State (890), Northwestern (894), Purdue (899), Illinois (900), Michigan (904) and North Carolina State (910).
In addition to Swan’s top five individual finish, Joseph Sykora, a Daphne native, finished T-22nd at even par. Sykora shot 75-71-70/216. Gator Todd of Florence finished one over par and T-24th after carding 71-71-75/217, Michael Thompson finished T-33rd at three over par, shooting 76-72-71/219, and Mark Harrell finished T-39th, shooting 69-78-74/221.
After playing back-to-back tournaments within five days including the February 18-20 John Hayt Collegiate which Alabama won at Sawgrass Country Club, the team will get a couple of weeks off from competition. Next up for the Crimson Tide golf team, ranked No. 4 in the Golf World/NIKE Coaches’ poll and No. 5 in the Golfweek Sagarin rankings, is the March 17-18 E-Z-Go Schenkel Invitational. It will be played at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, Ga.
