Cauley and Hamrick Earn PING All-America Accolades
6/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
June 9, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama freshmen Bud Cauley and Hunter Hamrick added to their impressive list of accomplishments on Tuesday when the Golf Coaches Association of America announced the 2009 PING All-America Teams.
Cauley, a Jacksonville, Fla. native, was named to the second team while Hamrick, from Montgomery, Ala., was selected as honorable mention. The pair was also named to the GCAA All-South Region Team.
"I'm really happy for both of those guys," Alabama head coach Jay Seawell said on Tuesday. "They have earned every honor they receive as freshmen because of their work ethic and commitment to our golf team. Bud and Hunter were consistently excellent throughout the season and will be the cornerstone of our golf team for the near future."
Cauley and Hamrick were the 12th and 13th All-Americans at Alabama and the first freshmen in school history to earn that honor. In fact, they are just the second and third underclassmen to garner All-America recognition in men's golf after Alan Pate became the first as a sophomore in 1973.
Cauley led the Crimson Tide with a 72.13 scoring average, which ranked as the sixth-best average in school history. He finished the season ranked 10th in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Cauley was selected as the SEC Freshman of the Year while garnering first-team All-SEC accolades and being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
He was named to the Palmer Cup team and captured medalist honors at the United States Collegiate Championship with a 4-under-par 212 in difficult weather conditions. Cauley compiled six top-five finishes in just 10 tournaments and recorded 12 rounds under par with eight rounds in the 60s.
Hamrick won the NCAA Northeast Regional with a 1-under-par 212 and was second among Crimson Tide starters with a 73.59 scoring average. He played in all 11 tournaments and completed a team-high 32 rounds as a redshirt freshman. Hamrick also posted a runner-up finish individually at the John Hyat Collegiate Invitational and had six top-20 showings. He fired nine rounds under par with three rounds in the 60s.
It marks the second straight year that Alabama has had two All-Americas after Michael Thompson (First Team) and Matthew Swan (Honorable Mention) were selected in 2008. It also marks just the third time it has happened in school history with the first coming in 1974 and 1975 when Jerry Pate and Tony Hollifield earned back-to-back selections.
