Alabama
NCAA Championships
Alabama Men's Golf Opens Play at 2017 NCAA National Championships on Friday Morning
5/24/2017 9:43:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Crimson Tide will tee off the championship on Friday morning at 7:40 a.m CT
SUGAR GROVE, Ill. – The Alabama men's golf team is set to begin play at the 2017 NCAA Men's Golf National Championships, which tees off on Friday, May 26, and runs through Wednesday, May 31, at the par 72, 7,300-yard Rich Harvest Farms course. The Tide will make its 19th appearance at Nationals and ninth showing in the last 11 years, including six appearances in the last seven years.
There will be three rounds of stroke play for the 30-team field with a cut to 15 teams after 54 holes. Those 15 teams will be whittled down to eight teams after a fourth round of stroke play. The eight teams will then begin three rounds of match play for the national title (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, 4 vs. 5), which is slated to be held on May 30-31.
2017 NCAA Men's Golf National Championships Information
The Tide received the No. 23 overall seed and will be paired with No. 22 seed North Carolina and No. 24 seed Lipscomb throughout the first two rounds of this year's event. The three teams will tee off at 7:40 a.m. CT on Friday off Hole No. 10 and 1 p.m. CT on Saturday off Hole No. 1. Sunday's tee time will be determined according to position following the first two rounds.
Live stats throughout the championship can be found at Golfstat.com or NCAA.com. Fans can also follow along for updates, pictures and videos the Crimson Tide men's golf social media accounts at AlabamaMGolf (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
Alabama In The NCAAs
Alabama's berth in the NCAA Championship marks the 19th appearance at Nationals and the ninth in the last 11 years under the leadership of head coach Jay Seawell. The Tide is coming off one of the best stretches in modern collegiate golf. Alabama won back-to-back national titles in 2013 and 2014, becoming one of three teams to earn consecutive championships since 1984 (Houston in 1984 and 1985, Augusta State in 2010 and 2011). The Tide also finished runner-up to Jordan Spieth and Texas in 2012, falling on the last hole of match play by one shot.
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 Conrad Rehling. Alabama has 27 total appearances (regionals and finals) in the NCAA men's golf tournament. The 1975 team, which featured Crimson Tide legend Jerry Pate, earned UA's fourth-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 Dick 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. Since then, the Tide has only missed a total of three championships in the last 13 years, missing out in 2006, 2010 and 2015.
Alabama Advances to National Championship after Third-Place Tie at Washington Regional
Alabama shot a 2-under 282 in the final round and finished tied for third overall with a 54-hole score of 10-over 862 (293-297-282) at the NCAA Men's Golf Washington Regional, held in Sammamish, Wash.
Alabama reached this year's nationals on the strength of not only its best round of the regional, but the 282 was also lowest team score in the entire field in the last round of play. Three UAZ golfers shot below par in the final round, including Lee Hodges (3-under 68), Josh Sedeno (2-under 69) and Davis Riley (1-under 70).
Hodges led the Crimson Tide, as he tied for eighth overall which marked his team-leading fifth top-10 finish of the season. The junior from Ardmore, Tenn., carded a 1-under par 212 (71-73-68) for the tournament.
Riley tied for 17th overall with a three-day total of 3-over par 216 (73-73-70) on the par 71, 6,885-yard Aldarra Golf Course. It was Riley's seventh top-25 finish in the eight tournaments he has played this year. Meanwhile, junior Steven Setterstrom tied for 22nd overall – his second-best finish in a tournament this season – carding a three-round total of 5-over par 218 (68-75-75) to give the Tide three golfers among the Regional's top-25 finishers.
Sedeno, a redshirt freshman, rebounded from a 9-over par 80 in Tuesday's second round with his 69 on Wednesday. He finished the event tied for 40th at 224 (75-80-69). Junior Jonathan Hardee rounded out the Crimson Tide golfers, as he tied for 47th with a 227 (71-76-80).
Top-ranked USC claimed the Washington Regional title with a 3-under par 849, finishing 12 strokes ahead of No. 12 Kent State (855). Alabama tied No. 24 Florida State for third, while Penn State (863) placed fifth to also earn a spot at nationals.
Tide Getting Hot At The Right Time
After a slow start to the 2016-17 season, Alabama is playing some of its best golf at the right time of year. Over the last six tournaments this spring, the Crimson Tide has finished outside the top five only once. That occasion came when it placed sixth at the SEC Championships. However, Alabama advanced to match play with the result and reached the semifinals before falling to No. 3 seed and 15th-ranked Texas A&M.
After averaging a team total of 876.0 over the first four stroke play tournaments of the year, the Tide has lowered that more than 21 strokes in the six tournaments since. Over the stretch, Alabama's team average has dropped to 854.7 per tournament.
Breaking Down The Alabama Fivesome
The Crimson Tide lineup for the 2017 NCAA National Championships will be the same as each of the last four tournaments in which UA has competed.
Playing in the top slot for the Tide will be second team All-SEC performer and 2016 honorable mention All-American Davis Riley. The sophomore from Hattiesburg, Miss., could not play in the team's first two tournaments this spring due to an injury, but enters NCAA play as one of the hottest golfers on the team. Riley tops the Tide with a 71.29 per round stroke average and a 0.21 average vs. par to rank 43rd nationally in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. He comes into this week's event having finished among the top-20 individuals in five consecutive tournaments, while 23 of his 24 rounds (.958) played this year have counted toward the team total. At the SEC Championships, Riley set a new season low with a 66 – the lowest round by a Tide golfer this season – in the first round of stroke play. Prior to that, Riley shot a career-low 207 (71-68-68) and finished ninth at the Mason Rudolph Championship. He also finished tied for 17th at the Washington Regional with a 216 (73-73-70).
Playing in the No. 2 slot is junior Lee Hodges, who is the only Crimson Tide golfer to make the starting lineup in all 10 tournaments this season. Hodges, who transferred from UAB to Alabama last summer, ranks second on the team in stroke average (71.47) and has seen 28 of his 30 rounds (.933) count toward the team total. Hodges is currently ranked No. 56 nationally by the Golfweek/Sagarin Index Player Performance Rankings. Earlier this spring, he won the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate with a 10-under 206 (69-68-69) on his way to being named the SEC Men's Golfer of the Week (March 8). The Ardmore, Tenn., native has shot in the 60s in 10 of his last 18 rounds to give him a team-leading 13 rounds in the 60s this season. Additionally, he has scored par or better in 19 of his last 24 rounds heading into play at the NCAA Championships.
Jonathan Hardee will be at the three spot for the Tide this week. Hardee, who missed the entire fall season while recovering from offseason surgery, has been one of the top players for Alabama this spring. He is currently ranked No. 158 nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin performance index. The Greer, S.C., native ranks third on the team in both stroke average (72.24 average) and average vs. par (0.81 per round). He has four top-20 finishes in his seven tournaments played this spring.
Rounding out the Crimson Tide lineup will be redshirt freshman Josh Sedeno at the four position and junior Steven Setterstrom at the five spot. Sedeno has seen action in eight events during his rookie season. He was named SEC Freshman Men's Golfer of the Week (April 5) after he carded a tournament total of 9-under par 204 on the strength of three consecutive rounds of 3-under par 68 – all career-best numbers – on his way to a second-place finish at the Mason Rudolph Championship. Meanwhile, Setterstrom ranks second on the team with nine tournaments played this season. He collected a season-best finish tying for 20th at the Clemson Invitational with a 6-over 222 (75-73-74). Setterstrom played impressively at the NCAA Washington Regionals where he placed 22nd overall with a three round total of 5-over par 218 (68-75-75).
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Players Mentioned
