Ponder Finishes in Fourth to Lead Alabama at the Watersound Invitational

Wednesday, February 21

Watersound, Fla.

Alabama

Watersound Invitational

Ponder Finishes in Fourth to Lead Alabama at the Watersound Invitational

2/21/2024 4:44:00 PM | Men's Golf

Final Results Photo Gallery

The Crimson Tide finished round three at 8-under par for the fourth-best team total of the day

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Senior Thomas Ponder finished in fourth overall to lead the Alabama men's golf team at the Watersound Invitational, which concluded play Wednesday. The Crimson Tide finished the three day, 54-hole tournament in 10^th place with a team total of 4-over par 868 (287-301-280).

Ponder ended the event with a season-best score of 8-under par 208 (66-75-68), his best 54-hole tournament score since last year's Watersound Invitational where he placed sixth overall at 11-under par 205. As a result, he secured his second top-five finish of the year and fourth of his career.

The three-day, 54-hole event, which was co-hosted by the Crimson Tide, was held on the par 72, 7,246-yard Sharks Tooth Golf Club course in Panama City, Fla.

Head Coach Jay Seawell Comments

"This was a great way to start the spring season. It was exciting for us to co-host down here at such a great course as Shark's Tooth and the Watersound folks have always been very gracious to us. They put on a great tournament and it's a pleasure for us to co-host this event with Florida State.

"We wanted to be in a great event with great competition to begin the year, and that's exactly what this was. We learned a lot. (Round two) was poor, but I love the way the boys responded (in round three). Yesterday may have been our identity for this event but it's not going to be our identity for this year. I'm really proud of the response today and thought they did a great job."

Gallery: (2-21-2024) 02-21-24 MGO Watersound Invitational

Thomas Ponder Highlights

Ponder collected his second top-five finish of the season (Steelwood Collegiate) to lead Alabama in the statistic
Ponder also earned his first sub-70 scores of the season with a season-low 66 Monday and 68 in round three
He now has 31 career rounds in the 60s
Ponder led the entire field in par 3 scoring (2.83, -2)

Team Highlights

Alabama was a combined 9-under par during the first and third rounds, however, carded a season-worst 13-over par 301 in round two
The Tide's 8-under total Wednesday was the fourth-lowest score in the 12-team field, trailing only the top three teams (Vanderbilt -9, Florida State -11, Georgia Tech -12)
Jonathan Griz recorded an eagle on the par 5 13^th hole, the team's second of the tournament (Ponder)
Ponder tied for ninth on par 5 holes (4.50, -6) and matched Canon Claycomb tied for the team lead in birdies (12)
Luke Coyle, who competed as an individual, led the team and ranked fourth in the field with 37 pars, while Austin Coggin finished with 36

Making the turn at 6-under par!#RollTide pic.twitter.com/R08BPgWQin
— Alabama Men's Golf (@AlabamaMGolf) February 21, 2024

Individual Results

Canon Claycomb and Jonathan Griz were the team's next-best finishers after Thomas Ponder as each carded a 2-under par 70 in round three
Claycomb closed the event at 4-over par 220 (74-76-70) and tied for 45^th overall, one shot better than Griz who placed 49^th with a 221 (77-74-70)
JP Cave ended with a 224 (73-77-74) and tied for 58^th overall while Austin Coggin tied for 62^nd with a 225 (74-79-72)
Jones Free and Luke Coyle each competed as individuals with both carding sub-par rounds Wednesday
Free tied for 31^st place with a 216 (71-75-70), while Coyle finished in 52^nd overall with a 222 (76-75-71)

Tournament Results

No. 3 Vanderbilt (-29) claimed the team title, leading wire-to-wire, toppling No. 9 Georgia Tech (-20) and No. 12 Florida State (-20) by nine strokes
No. 11 Virginia (-15) finished in fourth with No. 10 Oklahoma State (-10) rounding out the top five teams
In all, the 12-team field featured nine teams ranked in the Bushnell/Golfweek DI top-40 national rankings

Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaMGolf, on X, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.