With only four players returning this season, the Alabama men’s golf team has a lot of work ahead if the team wants to win another national championship.

Sophomore Tom Lovelady and seniors Cory Whitsett, Bobby Wyatt and Trey Mullinax round out the team’s experienced players. All four have a championship under their belt.

“We’ve only won one national championship in the history of our program,” coach Jay Seawell said. “So it’s going to be hard. We realize that we’re very good. We have great talent. Winning a national championship is a hard thing. We have the pieces in place, and the guys are good enough. We just need to do the things day-to-day to get our minds ready when the championship comes.”

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Freshmen Dru Love, Gavin Moynihan, Robby Prater, William Sellers and Robby Shelton finish off the team’s roster. Although they are young, Seawell said it’s fun to mold so many players this season.

“I think it’s fun [to have more younger players],” Seawell said. “As a coach, we want to teach to the young guys when they come in. It’s why we do what we do. Now all of them have an idea through the recruiting process, when you get here to the University and to the golf program, you start to really put the foundations [down] and instill into them what the team is all about.”

Seawell said he was teaching his new players how to become Alabama athletes and how to live up to the expectations.

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Despite being outnumbered by freshmen, Seawell said the seniors will play a vital role this season.

“The great thing about older players is that they’ve been in the system long enough, and they’ve got great leadership,” Seawell said. “Our three seniors are great leaders.”

Alabama has had three months to prepare for the spring season. The Crimson Tide’s last tournament was in November, and since then, the team has been focusing on preparing for the spring season and the tournaments that matter most.

“[We’re] trying to get our minds focused, really getting focused on the shot,” Seawell said. “I think we’re working hard, but we’re doing the same things. Our minds tend to wander early, so we’re trying to get the mental preparation for shots during shots.”

Alabama has a full schedule in the coming months with back-to-back tournaments in the next three weeks. The Crimson Tide will first travel to Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico Classic before heading to Mexico next week.

(See also “Men’s golf dominant in streak“)