Alabama Men’s Golf Summer Swings: Crimson Tide Having Success in Amateur Events
6/21/2019 5:09:00 PM | Men's Golf
Current and future UA golfers having success in the early part of the summer
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Both present and future Alabama men's golfers are having success in summer events, highlighted by rising sophomore Prescott Butler's dominant performance in winning the 96th Long Island Amateur championship this week.
In addition to highlighting Butler's performance in the first installment of Bama Golf Summer Swing, newcomer Simms Abney, sophomore Frankie Capan III and junior Wilson Furr are each competing or have performed well in events in June.
Event: 96th Long Island Amateur Championship (Brookville Country Club | Old Brookville, N.Y.)
Place: 1st in stroke play, 1st in match Play
Final Results: CLICK HERE
Recap: Rising sophomore Prescott Butler won medalist honors with a 4-under 66 in stroke play qualifying on June 17. He followed that with five consecutive match play victories, capped by a dominant 11&9 win in the championship match on June 20, to secure the trophy. Butler got off to a red-hot start in the morning round of the 36-hole championship match when he collected six birdies over the first 10 holes of the day. From there, the Old Westbury, N.Y., native continued to increase his lead over runner-up finisher Russ Aue. The victory capped a tremendous week in which Butler defeated Kyle Ritchie (6&5), Brendan Smith (6&4), Ben Pirro (2&1) and Daniel Abbondandolo (2&1) before the victory over Aue.
Quotable: "It's normally hard to start quick, so I figured that if I could make a couple birdies in the first few holes, it's a huge advantage. I was actually really struggling," Butler told the Metropolitan Golf Association following his victory. "I shot 79 or something in the New York State Open qualifier last week and I was kind of struggling off the tee. I was trying to shape it both ways and I decided to stick with a low cut and I just hit that on literally every single tee shot out here. It's the best I've driven it in a while."
Simms Abney
Event: 102nd Western Junior Amateur Championship (Rich Harvest Farm | Sugar Grove, Ill.)
Dates: 4th in stroke play
Final Results: CLICK HERE
Preview: Fall signee and soon-to-be freshman Simms Abney continued his solid play in 2019 with a fourth-place finish at the prestigious Western Junior Amateur Championship at Rich Harvest Farms golf course. Abney closed the 72-hole event in a three-way tie for fourth overall as he carded an even par 288. The Madison, Miss., native opened the event with a 1-under par 71 and followed that with a 2-under 70 before closing with rounds of 73 and 74, respectively. He finished the tournament with 17 birdies which tied for first among all individuals.
Event: Mississippi State Amateur Championship (Hattiesburg Country Club | Hattiesburg, Miss.)
Dates: June 21-24
Live Scoring: CLICK HERE
Preview: Rising junior Wilson Furr will look to defend his title when he recorded an 11-shot victory to claim the 2018 Mississippi State Amateur title, earning a sponsor's exemption to the PGA Tour Sanderson Farms Championship. Furr, who carded four consecutive rounds in the 60s (68-69-66-69) en route to last year's crown, will be looking to claim his third state am title in five years in 2019. In addition to winning the 2018 championship, Furr also claimed medalist honors in 2015 when he became the youngest player to ever win the tournament at age 16.
Event: 58th Northeast Amateur Championship (Wannamoisett Country Club | Rumford, R.I.)
Dates: June 19-22
Live Scoring: CLICK HERE
Preview: Rising sophomore Frankie Capan III is in a tie for 29th after 36 holes played at the Northeast Amateur Invitational golf tournament, which is being held on the par 69, 6,830-yard Wannamoisett Country Club course. Capan opened the four day, 72-hole event with a 2-under par 67 and followed that with a 4-over 73 to result in a 36-hole total of 2-over 140. He will tee off the third round at 11:23 a.m. ET (10:23 a.m. CT).
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