Alabama
Carpet Capital Collegiate
Alabama Men’s Golf Finishes in Ninth at Carpet Capital Collegiate
9/11/2016 4:32:00 PM | Men's Golf
Davis Riley shoots final round 69 to finish tied for 19th overall
ROCKY FACE, Ga. – The No. 16 Alabama men's golf team ended play at the 2016 Carpet Capital Collegiate on Sunday, finishing the three-day, 54-hole tournament in ninth overall with a 10-over par 874 (281-295-298).
"It was a mixed bag for sure," Crimson Tide head coach Jay Seawell said. "We had a nice start but we didn't handle the last two days very well. It sort of snowballed on us and it doesn't feel very good. There were some things we could build off of and a lot of things we need to correct. You play tournaments to learn about yourself and we learned a lot. We look forward to getting back to work (Monday)."
Sophomore Davis Riley ended the event on a high note, carding a tournament low round of 3-under par 69 on his way to finishing tied for 19th overall with a 1-under par 215 (74-72-69). It marks Riley's 10th round he has shot in the 60s for his career and the eighth top-20 finish in 13 career tournaments.
Junior Lee Hodges, making his Alabama debut after transferring from UAB this past summer, tied for 30th overall with a 2-over par 218 (68-73-77) on the par 72 on the 7,012-yard Farms Golf Club course.
Junior Tyler Hitchner tied for 42nd with a 4-over par 220 (68-74-78), following by junior Steve Setterstrom who was one stroke back and tied for 45th with a 221 (71-76-74). Redshirt freshman Alex Green rounded out the Tide in 74th at 236 (74-77-85).
Redshirt freshman Josh Sedeno, who played as an individual in the event, finished tied for 45th overall with a three-day score of 221 (73-74-74).
Three golfers made their Alabama debut this weekend in Hodges, Sedeno and Green, while Setterstrom was making just his seventh tournament start. According to Seawell, getting playing experience in tournaments will only help the team in the long run.
"This will absolutely help our experience," Seawell said. "We have a young team this year. We had good practices leading up to this tournament but we are just inexperienced. Lee is a junior but this is the first tournament wearing the Crimson shirt. I am proud of a lot of things they did and I saw a lot of good, especially in the first round. But you could tell we were young and couldn't overcome the adversity. We need to get better at that and I believe we will."
Virginia, ranked 21st in the nation, led wire-to-wire to claim the team victory with a total of 13-under par 833, finishing six strokes ahead of second place No. 11 Auburn (839). Thirteenth-ranked Clemson (848) finished third, followed by No. 7 LSU (852), while No. 6 Florida (856) and No. 35 Georgia Tech (856) tied for fifth overall.
The Tide will next be in action next weekend when it travels to Chicago, Ill., to compete at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Challenge on Sept. 16-18.
"You learn a lot and typically see the most improvement from the first week to the second week so we are looking towards Olympia Fields with the hope we can improve from what we did this week," Seawell said.
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Players Mentioned
