Alabama
Chapel Hill NCAA Regional
No. 9 Alabama Ready to Compete at the Chapel Hill NCAA Men’s Golf Regional
5/12/2024 9:25:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Crimson Tide will tee off the three-day, 54-hole regional Monday morning
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 9 Alabama men's golf team is set to tee off the 2024 NCAA Chapel Hill Regional Monday morning. The Crimson Tide is the No. 2 seed in the 13-team event which will take place at the par 70, 7,084-yard Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The Chapel Hill Regional, hosted by No. 1 seed North Carolina, is one of three regional sites to feature 13 teams and 10 individuals, with the remaining three sites having 14 teams and five individuals. The top five teams and low individual not on an advancing team from each of the six regional sites will advance to the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships hosted by the University of Texas in Carlsbad, Calif., at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, from May 24-29.
The Crimson Tide is making its 18th regional appearance under head coach Jay Seawell and its 26th appearance in the event overall when it tees off the opening round. Live stats can be found throughout the regional on Golfstat.com.
The Lineup
- The Tide's starting five will includes Canon Claycomb, Thomas Ponder, JP Cave, Jonathan Griz and Jones Free, with Austin Coggin serving as the alternate
- The Crimson Tide enters as one of the most experienced teams in this year's field, featuring four seniors, a junior and a sophomore
- Alabama will start NCAA postseason play with the same lineup collected three top-5 team finishes across the final four regular season tournaments, including the Linger Longer team title
- Claycomb (71.31, -0.03), Ponder (71.21, -0.14) and Griz (71.81, +0.35) lead the squad with each averaging under 72.00 strokes per round on the season
- Cave, who along with Claycomb and Griz have each earned individual medalist honors this season, ranks fourth in stroke average (72.24) and average vs. par (+0.90)
- Free (72.42, +1.04) rounds out the Tide's starting five in the event
- Coggin will serve as the Tide's alternate golfer at this year's regional, entering with a season average of 72.95 strokes and +1.10 average vs. par
Previewing the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional
- The 13-team field is headlined by No. 1 seed and regional-host North Carolina, who is ranked No. 4 in the nation
- Following the second-seeded and No. 9-ranked Crimson Tide is No. 3 seed Georgia Tech, No. 4 East Tennessee State and No. 5 Northwestern to round out the region's top-five seeds
- The remaining teams in the Chapel Hill Regional include: No. 6 Baylor, No. 7 VCU, No. 8 Loyola Marymount, No. 9 Long Beach State, No. 10 Clemson, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 12 Ball State and No. 13 Howard
- The Chapel Hill Regional will be played at Finley Golf Club on the campus of the University of North Carolina, marking the first collegiate men's tournament at the newly renovated golf club since 2021
- The Tide is paired alongside No. 1 seed North Carolina and No. 3 seed Georgia Tech for round one of the regional
- Alabama has won the NCAA Regional five times: 2009 Galloway (N.J.) Regional, 2012 Athens (Ga.) Regional, 2013 Baton Rouge (La.) Regional, 2014 Auburn (Ala.) Regional and 2023 Norman (Okla.) Regional
- The Crimson Tide has advanced to nationals 12 times under head coach Jay Seawell, securing back-to-back national championship titles in 2013 and 2014
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 Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
