The No. 2 Alabama women’s golf team pulled away from the competition on Sunday in the final round of the 2013 SEC Golf Championships at the par-72, 6,401-yard Greystone Golf and Country Club to win the league title by 14 shots.
The Crimson Tide shot 14-over 302, which was within one shot of the low round of the day in windy conditions for a 54-hole total of 35-over-par 899. Georgia finished second at 49-over 913 with South Carolina in third (918), Vanderbilt (919) fourth and Kentucky (922) fifth.
“The SEC is a very deep conference, and maybe we are a little biased, but we like to consider ourselves the best conference in the nation,” Alabama head coach Mic Potter said. “It is an honor to win against this field on this fantastic golf course – a championship-caliber course in every way.
“We are pleased and honored. We got a little defensive today, but when you have that big of lead it is hard to know how to focus and what to think about. We won, and hopefully we learned some lessons as well.”
Stephanie Meadow lapped the field for medalist honors with an even-par 216 for a nine-shot win. She is the first Alabama women’s golfer to capture medalist honors at the SEC Championship.
“What can you say about Stephanie Meadow,” Potter said. “She is just so consistent. If you are going to beat her, you have to be aggressive, because she just doesn’t beat herself. She just keeps getting better all the time.”
Meadow carded rounds of 75, 69 and 72 for the win. She was the only player in the field to break 70 in three rounds. The win was the sixth-career victory for the junior from Jordanstown, Northern Ireland, extending her own school record.
“It is a pretty awesome feeling [to win as a team],” Meadow said. “We put in a lot of hard work – all of us – and obviously it is paying off. Individually, I am just happy that I could pull it out. It was a great experience.”
Hannah Collier fired the low round of the day for Alabama. The Birmingham native and member at Greystone shot 1-under 71 with a birdie on the closing hole. She knocked her approach on 18 to about a foot and sank the putt to finish at 14-over 230 in a tie for 14th. Collier began the day in a tie for 42nd position.
Freshman Emma Talley was the Tide’s third score on Sunday with a 4-over 76. She finished tied for 19th at 15-over 231. Senior Jennifer Kirby finished tied for 11th at 13-over 229. She was the University’s fourth score in the final round with an 83. Daniela Lendl’s 85 was dropped from the team total.
Alabama now awaits word on its NCAA Regional destination. The win also marked the Crimson Tide’s school-record sixth team victory, breaking the mark of five set in the 2010-11 season.
