As Ben Fuller’s golf ball rolled over the edge of the hole and fell in, the buildup from a year of frustrations, disappointments and lonely weekends melted away into relief. 

The Alabama sophomore had birdied the third hole of a playoff to clinch a spot in the Crimson Tide’s starting lineup for the first time. While his good friends and fellow sophomores Wilson Furr and Davis Shore started eight and 11 of the team’s 12 tournaments last year, Fuller remained in Tuscaloosa for all 12. 

“Since they were out of town so much, it was kind of weird going to class by yourself and practicing when everybody’s on the road,” Fuller said. “It sucked at times, not being able to be there and cheer them on.” 

To keep Fuller’s spirits up, Furr and Shore called or FaceTimed him after most tournament rounds. From Puerto Rico to Las Vegas and many places in between, they kept in touch with their friend back home.  

“He’s obviously one of our best friends, so when we were on the road we still wanted to talk to him and see what’s up,” Furr said. “So we’d call him or FaceTime him after the round and talk about how it went and what we need to do better the next day, just like we would if he was there.” 

Fuller and Furr have known each other since around age nine, when they first played together in the Future Masters in Dothan, Alabama. The tournament’s pairings are organized alphabetically by last name, so the two became good friends while playing together six times in seven years. 

Except for one middle school tournament, Fuller didn’t meet Shore until they visited Vanderbilt at the same time during the recruiting process, but they too became close before they enrolled at Alabama. 

Fuller’s top two choices were to play for the Commodores or the Crimson Tide. With him and his siblings having grown up in Alabama, their father liked the idea of his children attending college outside the state to experience new people and places. Fuller, though, says nothing could pry him away from Tuscaloosa. 

“Deep down I always knew Bama,” Fuller said. “[My dad] could just tell my heart and my personality fit Tuscaloosa so much better. … And Coach Seawell is just as good as it gets. He’s an unbelievable coach.” 

Three years after Fuller, Shore and Furr committed, they arrived at Alabama last August for their freshman year. Shore broke into the starting five right away. Furr took a few months to sort out some swing issues before cementing his starting spot in the spring, leaving Fuller as the only one of the trio yet to play in a tournament. 

“I felt like I had the talent to [start], but I don’t feel like my mental game was sharp enough and I didn’t do the little things,” Fuller said. “I don’t think my tools were quite sharp enough to compete day in and day out.” 

Seawell, who constantly preaches that his players focus only on what they can control, saw a player who was bogging himself down with the stresses of playing high-level golf. But with his famous metaphors, an infectious optimism and an open line of communication, the coach started to chip away at Fuller’s mindset. 

“It’s really easy to become golf-suffocated,” Seawell said. “I think for a two- or three- or four-year stretch, Ben wasn’t healthy in how he tried to get better. … It’s taken a while to break that down, but I think we have and we’re looking forward to watching him grow now that those walls have been torn down.” 

When Fuller won the playoff to qualify for his first collegiate event – the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Vestavia Hills, Alabama – he wasn’t the only member of the team who was thrilled. 

Furr, who had persevered through his own dark patch last fall, could relate to the difficulties Fuller had been through and the euphoria of putting it in the past. 

“I think Wilson was as excited as I was because we’ve worked really hard together and he got to see me finally get in that lineup,” Fuller said. “He came in a little bit after me and was banging on my door and gave me a big hug. … Him and D-Shore were really, really proud of me and they were like, It’s about time, we were ready for you to come with us.” 

In a practice round a few days before the tournament, Fuller accomplished a feat that the United States Golf Association gives odds of greater than 1 million-to-one: He made a hole-in-one on a par-4. 

From 335 yards away, Fuller, Furr, senior Davis Riley and freshman Prescott Butler watched in awe as the ball rolled into the cup. The club professional later told Fuller it was the second ace on that hole in the course’s 25-year history. 

“I just saw my ball hit on the green and take a hop, and then you just saw a little white spot disappear,” Fuller said. “Everything was silent for a little bit and then Wilson was behind me and he screams, ‘No way!’ and everybody gives each other high-fives. 

“I don’t know how many times that’s ever happened in golf, but it can’t be too many because that’s pretty absurd.”  

After that, not much could ruin the week of the Birmingham native who attended several Alabama football games as a kid.  

Having waited a year to play for the defending national runner-up, Fuller stepped to the first tee at the Old Overton Club with one of the premier coaches in college golf by his side, as he represented he team he has adored since his childhood. 

“To put on the crimson and white was a little extra special because it was so much harder for me to get in the lineup,” Fuller said. “I was just having fun and it didn’t really matter what I shot. Me and Coach Seawell had a blast and my family was out there supporting me, so it didn’t really get much better than that.”