Men's Golf Team Headed to Golfweek/Ping Preview
9/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 26, 2008
TUSCALOOSA - Three freshmen and two seniors will battle against a field of 15 teams where 14 are ranked among the top 25 when the University of Alabama golf team participates in the 20th Annual Ping/Golfweek Preview this weekend. The three-day, 54-hole tournament opens with first round play on Sunday, September 28 and concludes on Tuesday, September 30.
The tournament is hosted by the University of Toledo and is being held at Inverness Club. The Ohio course will be the site of this season's NCAA Championships in May 2009. It is a par 71 with a 7,255-yard layout. Founded in 1903, the legendary course has been host to four U.S. Open Championships, the U.S. Amateur, the 1986 and 1993 PGA Championships and the 2003 U.S. Senior Open.
Alabama is ranked No. 8 in the Golf World/NIKE Golf Coaches' Poll and No. 15 in the Golfweek/Sagarin power rankings. The Crimson Tide will be represented in the tournament by All-Southeastern Conference senior golfer Matthew Swan (72.00) of Montgomery, senior Matt Hughes (74.00) of Dalton, Ga., and three freshmen, including Bud Cauley (72.67) of Jacksonville, Fla., Hunter Hamrick (74.67) of Montgomery, and, making his collegiate debut, Tuscaloosa's Hunter Slatton.
"We'll start three freshmen again," said Alabama head golf coach Jay Seawell who played three freshmen in Alabama's other fall tournament, the Carpet Capital Collegiate (The Farm). "I think we've learned a lot here in the last six weeks. Talent-wise, we are just trying to find a team and mold a team together, and so I think we've made great strides on that. We're looking forward to seeing how this team performs at The Preview. I thought we did a pretty good job at The Farm. We did exactly what I thought. We had a `freshman moment' or maybe a `young team moment' since it was not so much just the freshman as I think everybody had a `new team moment.' But they responded well with a great round in the last round. So I hope we'll build on that and the practices we've had since then, and we'll see how we do."
Given the strength of this weekend's field, Alabama's young team will need to respond like a veteran squad. It's a turnaround Alabama has shown it is capable of making. After stumbling from 8th to 14th from first to second round at the Carpet Capital at The Farm in Dalton, Ga., in the Tide's opening tournament, the team responded by shooting 5-under par in the third and final round to climb to a sixth place finish.
"I liked the last round," said Seawell. "I thought they showed a lot of character. We had a chance to maybe win the tournament if we didn't play the last three holes of the second round really poorly. Then, to come out the last day when you are in 14th place, it puts you in a situation where you've got a choice. You can have your head down and not do very well and not care. Or you can go out there and try to do something about it. And I liked how they responded. They competed well. So we're going to try to build off that last round. It's given us a lot energy in the last couple of weeks of practice."
The field Alabama faces at The Preview includes 14 teams out of 15 that are ranked among the top 25. It also will include three 1st Team All-Americans and another seven returning second and third team All-Americans. Chattanooga, winner in both its tournament so far this season, comes into Inverness ranked No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagaran rankings. The field also includes, with their Golfweek rankings listed, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 8 Clemson, No. 10 Florida, No. 12 Oklahoma State, No. 15 Alabama, No. 17 Texas A&M, and No. 19 Georgia. Added in are these teams which the coaches place among their top 25 in the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches poll: No. 2 Southern California, No. 10 Florida State, No. 12 Arizona State, T-15th Georgia Tech, No. 17 Charlotte, and No. 23 Kent State. Only the host team, the University of Toledo, is unranked.
"Getting to play in The Preview is the tournament every college team seeks to do," said Seawell. "You have to be in the Top 10 from the previous year to get invited, and so every team wants to get in that one. It gives you a chance to preview the golf course where the NCAA Championships will be held, even though it's a different time of the year. It gives you some extra rounds, plus you're going against the best field probably in the country again. Everybody is there. This is why our guys came to Alabama, to play against the best and to be the best. So it'll be a fun week, and we'll look forward to it."
Fans can follow live scoring of the tournament at www.golfstat.com. The tournament begins at 11:00 a.m. CT. Alabama is among the first group off the tee, pairing with Chattanooga and Charlotte.
