Alabama
SEC Championships
Alabama Cards Second-Lowest Round on Moving Day at SEC Men’s Golf Championships
4/25/2024 2:52:00 PM | Men's Golf
The Crimson Tide moves into seventh position overall entering the final round of play
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – With a collective 15 birdies across the back nine, the No. 9 Alabama men's golf team carded an 8-under par 272 in Thursday's second round at the 2024 Southeastern Conference Men's Golf Championships. As a result, the Crimson Tide vaulted into seventh place overall after 36 holes with a team total of 5-under par 555 (283-272).
The top eight teams after 54 holes played will advance to the championship's match play portion, which will tee off Saturday morning.
Thomas Ponder led the Tide with seven of the team's 15 birdies on the day, his lone error coming via a triple bogey on No. 14 to result in a 4-under par 66. Ponder is in a tie for third overall to lead Alabama with a two-day total of 5-under par 135 (69-66). JP Cave (-3) and Canon Claycomb (-1) also finished their day under par, with Jones Free (E) and Jonathan Griz (+1) closely behind.
The final round of stroke play is set to tee off Friday morning at 8:50 a.m. CT. This year's championship is taking place in St. Simons Island, Ga., at the par 70, 7,005-yard Sea Island Golf Club.
Eight teams will advance to the match-play quarterfinals Saturday morning, while four teams will move on to the match-play semifinals Saturday afternoon. The final two teams will go head-to-head in the match-play finals on Sunday.
Individual Highlights
- In all, three Crimson Tide golfers carded rounds in the 60s on Thursday (JP Cave, Canon Claycomb, Thomas Ponder)
- Thomas Ponder is tied with four others for third place and trails clubhouse leaders Jackson Koivun (-8) of Auburn and Jack Turner (-7) of Florida
- Ponder's 11 birdies throughout the SEC Championships places him in a tie for first in the category
- With his back-to-back rounds in the 60s, Ponder now has eight such rounds this year and a team-best 18 rounds of par or better on the season
- Ponder's 36-hole score of 8-under 135 is a season-best total and just one shot off his career-best mark
- Cave's 3-under 67 was his team-leading 10th round in the 60s this season
- Cave vaulted into a tie for 20th overall heading into the final 18 holes with a 1-under par 139 (72-67)
- Claycomb earned his sixth round in the 60s and 17th par or better mark with Thursday's total, and will come into the final round of stroke play in a tie for 28th overall at even par 140 (71-69)
- Jonathan Griz (71-71) and Jones Free (72-70) are tied for 40th with identical scores of 2-over par 142
Tournament Highlights
- Three of the five starters birdied the 10th hole to get the back nine started off well, as both JP Cave and Jones Free finished their back nine bogey free
- The Crimson Tide's 8-under par round was only bettered by Florida's round of 10-under par in round two
- No. 2 Vanderbilt (-15) increased its hold on first place to four strokes ahead of No. 15 Florida (-11) and No. 23 Georgia (-11)
- Top-ranked Auburn (-10) is in fourth with No. 7 Tennessee (-9), No. 22 Texas A&M (-6), No. 9 Alabama (-5) and No. 11 Arkansas (-1) rounding out the top eight teams
- The 2024 SEC Championship will be awarded to the winners of match play, while the individual medalist and runner up will be awarded based on stroke play
- Live stats throughout the event can be found on Golfstat.com
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Players Mentioned
