Crimson Tide Makes 13th NCAA Championship Appearance
5/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 30, 2011
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
NCAA Championship
May 31-June 5, 2011
Karsten Creek
Par 72, 7,416 yards
Stillwater, Okla.
Live Scoring: www.golfstat.com
Name Cl. Rds. Avg. Notes
Bud Cauley Jr. 33 70.39 4th in the Golfweek/Sagarin; 8 top-10 finishes
Cory Whitsett Fr. 30 71.03 10th in the Golfweek/Sagarin; won Linger Longer
Bobby Wyatt Fr. 24 71.96 Second-team All-SEC; 34th in the Golfweek/Sagarin
Hunter Hamrick Jr. 33 72.39 4 top-10 finishes; six rounds in the 60s
Trey Mullinax Fr. 21 73.19 Made seven starts; top finish was a t11th at Puerto Rico
Crimson Tide Makes 13th NCAA Championship Appearance
The Crimson Tide men's golf team makes fifth trip to the NCAA Championship in the last seven years under the guidance of head coach Jay Seawell and its 13th overall. The 2011 NCAA Championship tees off on May 31 and runs through June 5 at Karsten Creek, a par-72, 7,416-yard layout in Stillwater, Okla. There will be three rounds of stroke play for the 30-team field. At the conclusion of three rounds, the field will be cut to the top eight teams. Those eight teams will begin three rounds of match play for the national title (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5). The Tide's last appearance in the NCAA Championship came in 2009 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, with a 15th-place finish. In 2011, UA returns with two of the nation's top juniors in Hunter Hamrick and Bud Cauley and a trio of freshmen that have provided UA with a potent lineup. Alabama will play its practice round at Karsten Creek on Monday, May 30, before beginning its first round on Tuesday, May 31. Live stats can be found at www.golfstat.com.
Bama Tough Head-to-Head
No. 3 Alabama has been a great tournament team throughout the 2010-11 season with five tournament wins (Carpet Capital, Isleworth, Puerto Rico, Palmetto and Linger Longer). The Crimson Tide has not finished worse than fourth this season in 10 stroke play events and boasts a head-to-head record of 119-11-0. Alabama is one of two teams (Florida) that has multiple wins over top-ranked Oklahoma State, beating the Cowboys with victories at the Isleworth Collegiate and the Puerto Rico Classic. UA is 2-2 against the Pokes, 1-0 vs. UCLA, 1-3 vs. Florida and 2-0 vs. Georgia Tech, for a 6-5 mark vs. the top five. The Tide is 11-7 against the Golfweek/Sagarin top 10 and 37-9 against the top 25. UA has just two losses outside the top 25 with losses coming to No. 26 Clemson at the Insperity ASU Invitational and No. 36 Michigan at the NCAA Central Regional. Alabama has been equally as tough against teams in the NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek. The Crimson Tide boasts a 38-9 record against the field in Oklahoma.
Alabama in the NCAAs
The Crimson Tide's berth in the NCAA Championship marks the 13th finals appearance and the fifth in the last seven years under the leadership of head coach Jay Seawell. UA's top finish under Seawell was a sixth-place showing in 2007. Prior to the NCAA Tournament switching to regional format in 1991, the Crimson Tide made five NCAA Finals appearances in 1973-75, 1981 and 1983 under head coach Rehling. Alabama has 20 total appearances (regional and final) in the NCAA men's golf tournament. The 1975 team, that featured Crimson Tide legend Jerry Pate, earned UA's best finish in the NCAA Finals with a tie for third place. Following Rehling's last trip in 1983, Alabama didn't make its return to the NCAA Finals until 1992 when Spybey's squad finished 11th. Following trips to the NCAA Finals in 1993 and again in 1996, UA would not return for another eight years until Seawell's 2005 team advanced out of the East Regional. The 2007 season marked the beginning of three straight trips to the NCAA Championship.
Bud Cauley Shatters UA Records
Junior Bud Cauley arrived at the Capstone to much fanfare. During his three years at Alabama, the native of Jacksonville, Fla., has re-wrote the Crimson Tide record books and established a legacy as one of the best to ever tee it up at UA. His 2010-11 scoring average is one full stroke better than Michael Thompson's 2008 mark and .93 strokes better than his school record established last year of 71.32. He is averaging .70 strokes below par this season and his 70.39 scoring average leads the SEC and is second nationally. Cauley has recorded 23 rounds of par or better this season, 20 rounds under par and 13 rounds in the 60s. He is also the only UA player to average below par during his career (-0.15) and is UA's all-time leader in scoring average at 71.25 over 88 career rounds. His four career medalist honors are tied for second in school history and his 57 career rounds of par or better is one shy of Mark Harrell's record of 58 set over 152 rounds.
Freshmen Making Difference for Tide
Alabama features three true freshmen in the starting lineup for the 2011 NCAA Championship. It is a lineup that UA has used throughout the spring when healthy and consists of freshmen Cory Whitsett, Bobby Wyatt and Trey Mullinax. The Crimson Tide is first on the Golfstat Top 25 Freshman Class Impact Ranking with a combined scoring average of 72.06 and a relative strength of 559.919. The next best is Houston at 457.955 and the closest in the field is Arkansas at 327.556. The Tide's three freshmen have started a combined 25 tournaments and boast one win, one runner-up, eight top-10 finishes and 18 top-20 showings. Whitsett leads the way with a 71.03 scoring average that ranks 10th nationally, while boasting 10 rounds under par and eight in the 60s. Wyatt has a 71.96 stroke average and 10 rounds under par while Mullinax is averaging 73.19 over 21 rounds of golf, including four under par.
Three Tide Golfers Earn SEC Postseason Awards
Alabama men's golfers Bud Cauley and Cory Whitsett were named first-team All-SEC while freshman Bobby Wyatt was a second-team choice. Whitsett was also named the SEC Freshman of the Year and was joined by Wyatt on the All-Freshman team.
It is the third straight year for Cauley to earn first-team All-SEC honors after winning SEC Freshman of the Year accolades in 2009. He joins Steve Lowery as the only UA players to be selected to the SEC's first team three times. Cauley has seven top-10 finishes with a victory at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Classic. He also leads the team and ranks second nationally with a 70.52 scoring average.
Whitsett is just behind Cauley with a 71.03 stroke average to rank fourth in the SEC and 10th nationally. He captured his first win at the Linger Longer Invitational where he shot a career-low 13-under-par 203 to edge Cauley by one stroke. He is just the second Tide player (Cauley) to earn first-team All-SEC honors as a true freshman.
Wyatt, missed three tournaments leading up the SEC Championship, has a 71.96 stroke average, which ranks 12th in the SEC. He boasts three top-five showings, including a runner-up finish at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.
High-Ranking Individuals
The Crimson Tide's lineup features three the nation's top golfers in junior Bud Cauley and freshmen Cory Whitsett and Bobby Wyatt. Cauley ranks fourth in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, while Whitsett is 10th and Wyatt is 34th. Hunter Hamrick moved into the top 80 with a tie for fourth at the NCAA Central Regional at No. 76.
Crimson Tide Under Seawell
Coach Jay Seawell has transformed Alabama in to perennial contender in his nine years at the Capstone. Since taking the Crimson Tide to NCAA Regionals during his first year, 2003, this year marks eight regional appearances in the last nine years, including seven straight. UA is also making its fifth NCAA Championship appearance in the last seven years (2005, 07-09, 11). Alabama finished sixth in 2007, the best for a Seawell-coached team. His teams have won 20 tournament titles over the last nine years, including the 2008 SEC Championship and the 2009 NCAA Northeast Regional. UA won a school-record seven times in 2007-08 and won five more tournaments in 2010-11.
