The Alabama men’s golf team finished in first place without freshman Bobby Wyatt at the Linger Longer Invitational on Tuesday.

Wyatt is currently out with a shoulder injury, but his teammates have learned that they need to continue playing hard without him.

“After we had some time to get past it, the team has done fine,” head coach Jay Seawell said. “We’ve adjusted and have gone back to business, and we’re trying to get ourselves to be the best we can be.”

Wyatt is currently ranked 20th, according to Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, while junior Bud Cauley is the only teammate ranked higher at No. 8. Wyatt’s best finish this season was second place at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.

“We miss Bobby,” Seawell said. “He’s one of the best players in the country, but it gives someone else an opportunity to play for the University of Alabama. We’ve got capable guys who can do that. We have a very good team with Bobby and a great team with allowing these other guys to step up also.”

The Tide ended the tournament at an 18-under-par 846. The team rebounded from finishing 12th last week at the Callaway Collegiate Match Play Championship, its first tournament without Wyatt.

“We didn’t want to overreact because we didn’t play very well, but we felt like we were doing the right things,” Seawell said. “We are just staying the course. We kind of refocused on what we were doing and we’re trying not to get too caught up in that week and just move on. I think not panicking was the best thing we did.”

Freshman Cory Whitsett would start off the tournament strong by shooting a career-low round of eight-under-par 64. He finished in first place and earned his first medalist honors with a career-low 13-under-par 203.

“I’ve been working hard,” Whitsett said. “The one thing I’ve been very pleased about this spring is that with every tournament, I feel like I’ve been getting better. This week it finally worked out and I’m really pleased.”

The Tide went head-to-head and tied Chattanooga the first day for first place and would go on to lead the rest of the tournament.

Junior Bud Cauley was the defending champion of the Linger Longer Invitational and would finish with a 12-under-par 204.

“With the golf that Bud Cauley and Cory Whitsett played, they basically lapped the field,” Seawell said. “Our team just blew everybody away.”

Freshman Trey Mullinax would end tied for 13th place, sophomore Lee Knox finished tied for 40th place and junior Hunter Hamrick would finish tied for 48th.

Wyatt is expected to play in the Southeastern Conference Championships. Whitsett said the team has had a really busy schedule lately, but they will have enough time to prepare and practice for the championships.

“We have a great conference this year with a lot of great teams, so we are going to have to show up and be ready to play,” Whitsett said.

The Tide will compete at the Augusta State Invitational in Augusta, Ga., on April 2-3.