Alabama
Watersound Invitational
Trio Leads No. 24 Alabama to a Runner Up Finish at the Watersound Invitational
2/18/2025 7:22:00 PM | Men's Golf
Jones Free and Jonathan Griz finished runners up, Nick Gross tied for sixth as threesome combined to shoot 19-under par across three rounds
PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Jones Free and Jonathan Griz carded identical 54-hole scores of 7-under par 209 to finish co-runners up and lead the No. 24 Alabama men's golf team to a second-place finish at the Watersound Invitational. The Crimson Tide finished the two-day tournament with a team total of 17-under par 847 (285-277-285).
The trio of Free, Griz and freshman Nick Gross, who carded a 5-under par 211, combined to shoot 19-under par to UA. In addition to the second place finishes from Free and Griz, Gross ended the event tied for sixth place to give the Tide three golfers among the top 10 individuals.
The season-opening event, originally scheduled to span three days with 18 holes played per round, was forced to play 36 holes on Tuesday due to the threat of inclement weather heading to the area.
Head Coach Jay Seawell Comments
"I am really encouraged and proud of the way our guys competed this week. They have worked very hard since coming back on campus and it was obvious they all had a good winter prep, so I am pleased with what we saw out on the course. We have some weather coming in (Wednesday), so we decided to play 36 holes (Tuesday). The guys went out and executed the plan we had for them and doing that gave us a chance to win. Overall, this was a great opening tournament. We have to continue to build from the momentum because there's a long way to go."
Individual Highlights
- Jonathan Griz picked up his second career top five finish while it marked the best tournament result in both Jones Free and Nick Gross careers
- Free carded a second round score of 5-under par 67 on his way to a 7-under par 209 (70-67-72) which marked the best 54-hole tournament score in his career
- Free finished with a team-best 14 birdies across tournament play, which tied for third-most among all individual golfers
- Meanwhile, Griz was the only UA golfer to shoot three consecutive sub-par rounds on the way to his 7-under 209 (70-70-69)
- Griz topped the field on par 4 holes, averaging 3.77 (-7) strokes
- Griz now leads the team with 10 rounds of par or better on the season
- Meanwhile, Gross had a career-best tournament which included his best single round (69) and best 54-hole score at 5-under 211 (69-72-70)
- Dominic Clemons (3-over 219) and Connor Brown (9-over 225) rounded out the UA starting five
- Luke Coyle led the Tide's three competing individuals, carding a 5-over 221 (75-74-72)
- Michael Crocker finished in 74th with a 236 (84-80-72)
Team Highlights
- Alabama went -20 as a team on par 5 holes throughout tournament play, ranking third among the 12 teams
- The Tide's score of 847 marked the second-lowest team total of the season
- The Crimson Tide held the second round lead and went on to finish nine shots behind tournament host and team champions No. 27 Florida State (-26)
- No. 12 UCLA (-13) placed third, while No. 14 Georgia Tech (-12) and No. 11 Vanderbilt (-11) rounded out the top five teams
- The field featured seven teams ranked in the Bushnell/Golfweek DI top-30 national rankings
%20(1).png&width=84&height=84&quality=100&type=webp)
Players Mentioned
