The Alabama men’s golf team returned from the Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico after finishing 11th overall.
The Crimson Tide finished 6-over-par 870, after carding rounds of 288 (E), 296 (+8) and 286 (-2). The No. 10 Texas Longhorns finished the tournament in first place, shooting 42-under-par. Oklahoma State, Clemson, Northwestern and Georgia Tech rounded out the top five.
Individually, sophomore and Tuscaloosa native Hunter Slatton finished in a tie for 25th as the Tide’s lone individual with an even-par 216 through 54 holes.
However, 11th place is not where the Tide wanted to finish.
“It’s not what we expected,” head coach Jay Seawell said. “We’re better than that… we just didn’t play well enough.”
Sophomore Bud Cauley finished 47th in the Classic and echoed his coach’s disappointment in the performance.
“It was a disappointing weekend,” Cauley said. “We went down there with pretty high expectations. Hunter Slatton played well, and [Scott] Strohmeyer had a couple of good days, but obviously Hunter Hamrick and myself didn’t play very well.”
Hunter Hamrick finished in a tie for 32nd place and feels that he could have turned in a better performance.
“I just have to hit better,” he said. “I putted well and chipped well, and that kept me shooting well, but I shot seven balls into the hazard, so I’m going to have to start [driving] better if I want to have a chance to compete.”
In spite of what was perceived as a disappointing finish in Puerto Rico, Alabama is optimistic as the Tide prepares for its next event in Jacksonville, Fla.
“I think we can improve,” Hamrick said. “We have a chance to play well and win some tournaments this spring. We just have to establish ourselves and put it all together.”
Seawell is looking forward to another outing for the Tide golfers so they can continue to improve and assert themselves as a pre-eminent program.
“We’re going to be a little more seasoned this week than we were last week, and get back to playing Alabama golf,” Seawell said. “We practice hard enough. We have the physical part of this down. We just need to have more of a winner’s attitude instead of a hope attitude, because if you can’t do it in practice, you can’t do it in a game.”
The Tide will see action again beginning Sunday when Alabama heads to Florida to participate in the John Hyat Collegiate.
Cauley said he is especially anxious to perform in Jacksonville, since the trip will be a homecoming for the Tide sophomore.
“I’m going to have a lot of family and friends out there, and after playing poorly it adds a little more motivation for me,” he said.
Cauley, Hamrick, Slatton, Strohmeyer and Lee Knox will be the five players who represent Alabama this weekend in Jacksonville as the spring season continues.
