Alabama
SEC Championships
Alabama Men’s Golf Finishes Stroke Play Tied for Fourth Overall, Clinches Spot in Match Play at 2018 SEC Championship
4/27/2018 4:24:00 PM | Men's Golf
Crimson Tide earns sixth seed and will square off against third-seeded Vanderbilt in quarterfinals on Saturday morning
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The No. 6 Alabama men's golf team completed the final round of stroke play at the 2018 Southeastern Conference Men's Golf Championship on Friday, finishing tied for fourth overall with a 54-hole team total of 8-over par 848 (283-280-285). As a result, the Crimson Tide is one of eight teams that will advance to match play, which is set to begin on Saturday morning.
Alabama received the sixth-seed in the quarterfinals after a tiebreaker and will take on third-seeded and No. 4-ranked Vanderbilt beginning at 7:20 a.m. CT (8:20 a.m. ET) off Hole No. 10. The winner of that match will advance to the semifinals on Saturday afternoon, which can be seen live on SEC Network+ beginning at 3 p.m. CT. The championship match will take place on Sunday morning and will be televised live on SEC Network.
"It's a big deal for us to advance to match play," Alabama head coach Jay Seawell said. "This is the best conference in college golf and there are six great teams that won't get the chance to play (Saturday). I am proud we are one of the eight who will be playing.
"There are some things we can improve on from stroke play and I believe we will. We need to play with a little more confidence and take advantage of embracing the opportunity instead of worrying about things we can't control. We are going to face a great Vanderbilt team in the morning and I'm just excited about our guys representing Alabama and having the chance to do something great."
Alabama was led in stroke play by senior Lee Hodges, who finished tied for seventh overall with a 2-under 208 (68-72-68). Hodges, who has carded a sub-par score in 14 of his last 18 rounds heading into Saturday, has shot in the 60s 13 different this season following his 2-under 68 on Friday, which is tied for the team lead.
Freshman Wilson Furr gave the Crimson Tide two individuals in the top 10 as he finished tied for 10th with a season-best 54-hole total of even par 210. It marked the second consecutive top-10 tournament finish for the Jackson, Miss., native, who placed in seventh overall at last week's Mason Rudolph Championship in Nashville, Tenn. After he opened the tournament with a 3-over 73 on Wednesday, Furr responded with an Alabama freshman record round of 7-under par 63 on Thursday followed by a 74 on Friday.
Junior Davis Riley tied for 30th at 5-over par 215 (73-69-73), while senior Jonathan Hardee was two shots behind Riley with a 7-over 217 (69-78-70) to finish tied for 36th. Freshman Davis Shore rounded out the Tide in 69th with a 227 (74-76-77) on the par 70, 7,005-yard Seaside Course layout.
Eleventh-ranked LSU won the stroke play portion and earned the No. 1 seed in match play with a 54-hole total of 6-under par 834. The Tigers were nine shots better than No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Florida, who tied for second at 843. Alabama was in a three-way tie for fourth with No. 9 Auburn and No. 16 Arkansas at 848, while No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 34 Ole Miss finished tied for seventh at 851 to round out the eight advancing teams.
Match play quarterfinals begin at 6:30 a.m. CT (7:30 a.m. ET) on Saturday morning, with four matches beginning off the first tee and four starting on the 10th hole. The Tide and Commodores are familiar opponents and should make for a great match-up, according to Seawell.
"We know Vanderbilt very well," Seawell said. "We just played in their home tournament last week. (Former Alabama assistant coach and current Vanderbilt head coach) Scott Limbaugh is a great coach and his players will be well-prepared. We know they are a very good team. In order for us to be successful, we need to be good and just play Alabama golf. We aren't going to worry about who we are going up against, rather just concentrate on playing the way we know we can. If we do that and play Alabama golf, we are going to have a chance to be successful."
In addition to the Tide and Commodores, Saturday's additional quarterfinal pairings include: No. 1 LSU vs. No. 8 Texas A&M; No. 4 Auburn vs. No. 5 Arkansas and No. 2 Florida vs. No. 7 Ole Miss. The winners of the LSU-Texas A&M and Auburn-Arkansas matches will square off in one semifinal, while the winners of the Alabama-Vanderbilt and Florida-Ole Miss will be pitted in the second semifinal, both of which will take place Saturday afternoon. The victorious teams from those matches will determine Sunday's championship pairing.
Live stats can be found throughout match play on Golfstat.com.
Alabama vs. Vanderbilt Quarterfinals Tee Times
7:20 a.m. CT: Lee Hodges vs. Will Gordon
7:30 a.m.: Davis Riley vs. Mason Greenburg
7:40 a.m.: Davis Shore vs. Patrick Martin
7:50 a.m.: Wilson Furr vs. John Augenstein
8 a.m.: Jonathan Hardee vs. Theo Humphrey
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaMGolf, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
