Alabama men’s golf traveled to Little Rock, Arkansas, from Oct. 18 to 20 for the team’s final tournament of the fall season, the Jackson T. Stephens Cup.

The first two days of the tournament featured 54 hole-stroke play. Alabama finished fifth with a 21-over total (292-290-303) on the par-72 Alotian Club.

During stroke play, junior Thomas Ponder was once again the Tide’s top performer, continuing his stellar play this season. Ponder finished tied for fifth individually with an overall 3-over (72-73-74) performance.

Junior Canon Claycomb also posted a top-20 performance in stroke play, shooting 7-over-par (73-71-79) and tying for 20th overall.

Alabama’s stroke play performance put them against the San Diego State Aztecs for match play on the final day of the tournament. The Aztecs won the match 3-2.

Sophomore JP Cave won his match, improving to 4-1 in match play this season. Claycomb won the Crimson Tide’s other match, improving his record to 3-1-1.

Ponder and fellow juniors Tyler Lipscomb and Dillon West fell in their respective matches.

“I think it will teach us a lot about ourselves in the long run, but it certainly doesn’t feel very good to end the fall season that way,” said head coach Jay Seawell. “It’s going to fuel us this offseason,” 

Despite the loss, Seawell was proud of the progress the team made this season. 

“As for the fall, I’ve been proud of the strides we made. I think we did a lot of good things this season and have been able to bring some of our culture back to the program,” he said.

Alabama will compete again on Feb. 18 when they travel to Panama City, Florida, for the Seminole Invitational.