GREENSBORO, GA. ?? In its final regular season tournament, the University of Alabama golf team finished at even par and tied for fifth place at the Linger Longer Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole tournament was played Sunday and Monday at the par 72 Reynolds Plantation’s Oconee Course in Greensboro, Ga. Alabama shot three over par, 291, in Monday’s final round.
The tournament featured a field of 15 teams, nine of which, including Alabama, will now head for this weekend’s NCAA regionals. Alabama, ranked No. 3 in the Golf World/NIKE Coaches poll and No. 4 in the Golf Week/Sagarin rankings, will travel to Sugar Grove, Ill., where it is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Central Regional. Alabama is one of 27 teams that will gather there in hopes of finishing among the top 10 teams. The top ten teams in each of the NCAA’s three regionals advance to the finals. Regional play for the Crimson Tide begins with a practice round on Wednesday and the first round of play on Thursday, May 17. The regional will continue through Saturday and consists of 54 holes, one round per day, Thursday through Saturday.
No. 1 ranked Georgia, the top seed in the NCAA East Regional, ran away with the Linger Longer team championship and claimed the individual title trophy as well. The Bulldogs shot 273-286-276/835 to finish the tournament at 29 under par, which was 19 strokes better than Georgia State who finished second at 10 under par, 854. The Panthers, bound for the NCAA East Regional as well, are coached by former Alabama golfer and assistant coach Matt Park, a Prattville native. Florida State finished third (856), followed by Chattanooga (863), Alabama (285-288-291/864) and Charlotte (864) Mississippi State (868), Georgia Southern (869), Augusta State (870), Memphis (875), Louisville (876), North Carolina (881), LSU (889), Kennesaw State (907) and tournament host Mercer (927).
Alabama, Georgia, Georgia State, Charlotte, North Carolina, Florida State, Chattanooga, Louisville and Augusta State will all play in NCAA Regionals this week. Alabama and Louisville will compete in the Central Regional. Augusta State heads to the West Regional in Arizona while the six others will all compete in the East Regional in Alpharetta, Ga.
Daphne’s Joseph Sykora led Alabama in the Linger Longer, finishing five under par. He shot 68-71-72/211 to finish tied for sixth. It was the second tournament he’s finished under par this season. Sykora set the school 54-hole record of 199 which was 14 under par, at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in October to win that tournament. On Monday for Alabama, Michael Thompson finished at one over par, 217, shooting 71-73-73/217. Tied at 31st at three over par were Alabama teammates Mark Harrell (73-74-72/219) and Matthew Swan (73-70-76/219) and Gator Todd finished tied at 61st (77-77-74/228).
Georgia’s Chris Kirk finished the tournament at 10 under par, powered by a 65 in the opening round, to win the Linger Longer Invitational individual championship. Kirk shot 65-72-69/206 to win by two strokes ahead of Memphis golfer Ian Rochester (70-67-71/208).
