After going into the NCAA Championship tournament as the third-seeded team in the nation, the Alabama golf team endured a tough third round at the challenging Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma to finish 14th in the NCAA Men’s Championship.
After opening up the tournament in third after the first round, the team slid down to fifth place after the second round. It looked as if the Crimson Tide were going to easily be inside the top eight teams heading into the final three days of play. But, after a disastrous third round which saw three of Alabama’s five golfers shoot their season-worst scores, the Tide found themselves out of contention, finishing 14th after the third round.
“We are the youngest team in the country, and we had a good year, but unfortunately, we had a bad day,” head coach Jay Seawell said.
When asked if there were any aspects of the tournament that the team will learn from and take with them, Coach Seawell talked about being mentally prepared.
“I think, at any time, if you are smart and you are good – and I think we are both –you can learn from things like that third round,” Seawell said. “It was a situation that exposed a little bit of who we were. We were young and inexperienced to a certain extent, and so I think it will make us hungrier.”
Hunter Hamrick was a perfect display of toughness and courage as he shot a team-low 4 over par 76 in the final round. It is certainly not Hamrick’s best round of golf, but considering the circumstances of having mononucleosis, it was a solid act of courage and showed his passion for his team and the University. Hamrick checked out from the hospital at 11:00 a.m. Thursday so he could make his tee time at 12:40 p.m.
“Hunter Hamrick was in the hospital two days while we were there, before the first round and before the third round with a severe case of mono,” Seawell said. “He was actually sent to the hospital another two times to get fluids and medicine. So for him just to be willing to put himself out there, I really think it shows his character and what Alabama golf means to him and what his teammates mean to him. I think it also portrays to the other players the toughness that it takes to be the best.”
Hamrick has all the ability to play well when it matters, but it is his solid attitude and amazing mental toughness that have made Coach Seawell want to model the program after Hamrick.
“He is the heart and soul of this program, of our team,” Seawell said. “He cares. He has matured so much in his time here. He has passion for his teammates and for our school. You want someone like that to be a leader in whatever you do, and he will be our leader on the golf course, for sure, all next year.”
With Bud Cauley recently turning professional, there will be a major spot to fill for the Alabama golf team, but Coach Seawell said he is confident in his team and the golfers he has signed for the 2011-2012 golf season.
“We returned four people,” Seawell said. “We started three true freshmen 18-year-olds in the NCAAs. Corey [Whitsett] was a borderline first-team All-American – he’s probably going to be a second or a third team All-American and Bobby [Wyatt] was an All-SEC performer. We have good recruits in ‘11 that we believe can step in, that have signed: Justin Thomas out of Kentucky and Tom Lovelady out of Birmingham, Alabama. I think we are going to have an eight-man roster, and all eight guys can start at any time. I think it’s going to be a great team that is going to really push each other. It’s a long time, but it’s really not that long if you really look at it, so we are looking forward to hitting the ground running again in September and giving it a good run again.”
