Alabama Crimson Tide golf

Last updated

Alabama Crimson Tide golf
Alabama Crimson Tide logo.svg
University University of Alabama
Conference SEC
Head coach
  • Men's: Jay Seawell (22nd season)
  • Women's: Mic Potter (20th season)
Location Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Course Ol' Colony Golf Complex
Par: 72
Yards: 7,544
Nickname Alabama Crimson Tide
ColorsCrimson and white [1]
   
NCAA champions
Men: 2013, 2014
Women: 2012
NCAA individual champions
Women: Eleanor Dudley (1941), Emma Talley (2015)
NCAA match play
Men: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018
Women: 2018
NCAA Championship appearances
Men: 1973, 1974, 1975, 1981, 1983, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023
Women: 1987, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023
Conference champions
Men: 1979, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014
Women: 2010, 2013, 2016
Individual conference champions
Men: Bobby Hill (1952), Michael Thompson (2008), Justin Thomas (2012), Bobby Wyatt (2014)
Women: Stephanie Meadow (2013)

The Alabama Crimson Tide golf teams represent the University of Alabama located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Crimson Tide currently has two of the best teams in the country with the men and women consistently ranked inside the top 5 by Golfweek.

Contents

History

Men

The Alabama Crimson Tide men's golf program has a rich history that dates back to the program's inception in 1952. That first season saw Crimson Tide golfer Bobby Hill capture the SEC Individual Championship. [2] Michael Thompson (2008), Justin Thomas (2012), and Bobby Wyatt are the only other Crimson Tide golfers to win the SEC Individual Championship. The Crimson Tide have won five SEC Tournament Championships (1979, 2008, 2012–2014); appeared in 27 NCAA Tournaments and advanced to the finals 12 times; and have had 13 players garner 21 All-America honors. [2]

Jay Seawell, the 2008 & 2012 SEC Coach of the Year, arrived in 2002 and has steadily taken the Tide to some of its greatest heights in program history. [3] Entering his 21st year at the Capstone, Seawell has established Alabama as one of the elite programs in collegiate golf. The Tide has been routinely ranked in the top 15 in the country while leading Alabama to 15 NCAA Tournaments appearances and four berths in the NCAA Championships. Under Seawell's guidance in 2008, Alabama captured its first SEC Championship since 1979 and its first SEC medalist – Michael Thompson – since Bobby Hill in 1952. [4] Over the past eight years, the Crimson Tide has garnered seven All-America honors by five players, had eight All-Region selections and 15 All-SEC honors, including 9 first-team choices. [2] Bud Cauley, an All-American his three years at Alabama (2009–2011), was named the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2009 and was a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award. [2] Thompson was also a finalist in 2008. In 2011, Cory Whitsett was named SEC Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-SEC. The 2012 team made it to the final match at the NCAA Championships before losing on the final hole and finishing second. Freshman Justin Thomas was also named the SEC Freshman of the Year and the SEC Player of the Year for the 2012 season. In 2013 the team repeated as SEC Champions and for the second straight season made it to the final match at the NCAA Championships, where they defeated Illinois 4-1 to win the program's first NCAA National Championship. In 2014 the Tide once again won the SEC Championship, with Bobby Wyatt becoming just the fourth Crimson Tide golfer to win a SEC Individual Championship. The Tide would go on compete in their third consecutive NCAA finals match and repeated as NCAA national champions by defeating Oklahoma State 4–1.

Women

Alabama first had a women's golf team in 1974, but has reached heights of success over the past five years never seen in the program's history. [5] Since his arrival in 2006, Mic Potter has built Alabama into a national contender. [6] The Tide has advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of Potter's eight seasons after the Tide had qualified for the NCAA Women's Golf Championship just once in the program's history before his arrival. [5] In 2010, Alabama won the SEC Women's Golf Championship and posted a then school-best third-place finish at the NCAA Championships. [5] In 2011, the Crimson Tide won its first NCAA Regional title in school history, and qualified for the 2011 NCAA Golf Championship at the Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas, where they finished tied for 8th. [7]

In 2012, the Tide won their first-ever NCAA Championship, when senior Brooke Pancake made a par on the final hole to clinch the title, winning with a score of 1,171 strokes (19-over-par) over four rounds at the Vanderbilt Legends Course in Franklin, Tennessee. [8] The championship was the first for the University of Alabama in a sport other than football or gymnastics. The Crimson Tide continued their success in 2013 where they won the SEC Championship as a team while Stephanie Meadow won the individual title.

In 1941, Eleanor Dudley won the women's individual intercollegiate golf championship (an event conducted by the Division of Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS) — which later evolved into the current NCAA women's golf championship). In 2015, Emma Talley won the NCAA Individual Championship. [9]

Tour professionals

Men

The Crimson Tide has had numerous great players that have come through the program over the years. One of the best known is Jerry Pate, who has competed in the Walker Cup, garnered All-American honors, captured the U.S. Amateur, won the U.S. Open, was named PGA Rookie of the Year, and went on to enjoy a successful career on the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. [10] Pate also designed Alabama's current home course, Ol' Colony. [11] Another successful alum is 2017 PGA Championship winner, 2017 FedEx Cup Champion, 2021 Players Championship winner, and 2022 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas. As of July 2023, Thomas has won 15 times on the PGA Tour. Besides his 2 Major Championships, FedEx Cup, and Players Championship, other highlights include the 2018 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, the Dell Technologies Championship (a FedEx Cup playoff event), and the 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Other players that played with the Tide include Trey Mullinax, Steve Lowery, Bud Cauley, Spike McRoy, Jason Bohn, Dicky Pride, David Kirkpatrick, Mårten Olander, Michael Thompson, Davis Riley, and Lee Hodges. [2] Olander captured the 1993 Ben Hogan Award. Besides Jerry Pate, the only other Alabama Crimson Tide golfer thought to earn first team All-America honors is David Kirkpatrick. [12]

Women

Cheyenne Knight has the lone victory for former Tide players on the LPGA Tour. [13] Other LPGA Tour players include Kathleen Ekey, Sofia Grönberg-Whitmore (who won three times on the Ladies European Tour), Camilla Lennarth (one LET win), Stephanie Meadow, Brooke Pancake, Leslie Spalding, and Emma Talley. [5] The Tide has some success on the LPGA developmental Epson Tour, with 13 all-time members and four total wins. [5]

Ol' Colony Golf Complex

The Crimson Tide golf team's home course is Ol' Colony, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The course, which opened in 2000, was designed by former Crimson Tide golfer Jerry Pate. [11] The course is a 7,544-yard par 72, [14] which includes the state-of-the-art Jerry Pate Practice Center dedicated to the Crimson Tide golf teams. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alabama Crimson Tide</span> Intercollegiate sports teams

The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Spirit Squads compete in the UCA and UDA College National Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Pate</span> American professional golfer

Jerome Kendrick Pate is an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour Champions, formerly on the PGA Tour. As a 22-year-old rookie, he won the U.S. Open in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball</span> Mens College Basketball team

The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team represents the University of Alabama in NCAA Division I men's basketball. The program plays in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In the conference it trails only long-time basketball powerhouse Kentucky in SEC tournament titles, is third behind Kentucky and Arkansas in total wins, and is third behind Kentucky and Tennessee in SEC regular season conference titles. Alabama was retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA tournament national champion for the 1929–30 season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll. The team has appeared in the NCAA tournament 24 times, most recently in 2024, and has made ten Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights, and one Final Four in the tournament. Alabama's current head coach is Nate Oats.

Phillip Ranson Hancock is an American professional golfer who formerly played on the PGA Tour.

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2008.

Gordon Sargent is an American amateur golfer who is currently attending Vanderbilt University. In 2022, he won the NCAA Division I Men's Individual Championship. He reached number 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in February 2023, and in June he was the low amateur in the 2023 U.S. Open.

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2013.

Emma Ruth Talley is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour. While playing as an amateur at the University of Alabama, she won the 2013 U.S. Women's Amateur by defeating Yueer Cindy Feng in the 36-hole final match, 2 & 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooke Pancake</span> American professional golfer (born 1990)

Brooke Pancake is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 2012 and after she led the Alabama Crimson Tide golf team to the 2012 national championship. Pancake was a three-time All-American at Alabama and turned pro following her senior season in June 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephanie Meadow</span> Northern Irish professional golfer

Stephanie Meadow is a Northern Irish professional golfer who played for the University of Alabama and made her professional debut at the 2014 U.S. Women's Open at Pinehurst where she finished third.

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2015.

Chirapat "Ja" Jao-Javanil is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the Symetra Tour, Thailand LPGA Tour, and LPGA Tour. On 25 May 2012, she became the first women's golfer in University of Oklahoma history to win the NCAA Golf Championship as an individual. She turned professional in May 2014 at age 21.

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Alabama Crimson Tide football team</span> American college football season

The 2018 Alabama Crimson Tide football team represented the University of Alabama in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This season marked the Crimson Tide's 124th overall season, 85th as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and 27th within the SEC Western Division. They played their home games at Bryant–Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and were led by twelfth-year head coach Nick Saban.

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2018.

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2019.

This article summarizes the highlights of professional and amateur golf in the year 2021.

Kristen Gillman is an American professional golfer currently playing on the LPGA Tour. As an amateur, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur twice, in 2014 and 2018.

Polly Annika Mack is a German professional golfer and member of the LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour. She won the 2023 LET Q-School at La Manga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Hodges (golfer)</span> American professional golfer

Lee Hodges is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He claimed his breakthrough win on the PGA Tour at the 3M Open in July 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "Alabama Crimson Tide Logo Sheet" (PDF). June 28, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "2010-11 2010-11 Alabama Men's Golf Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 12, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
  3. ↑ Jay Seawell
  4. ↑ Tide & Thompson Sweep SEC Golf With Championship
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "2018–19 Alabama Women's Golf Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  6. ↑ Mic Potter
  7. ↑ Women's Golf Captures NCAA East Regional Crown
  8. ↑ National Champions: Women's Golf Wins First NCAA Championship
  9. ↑ "Alabama's Emma Talley wins NCAA individual golf title". ESPN. Associated Press. May 26, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Jerry Pate - Career Highlights". Archived from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
  11. 1 2 Jerry Pate Golf Design
  12. ↑ "Crimson Tide Golf Through the Years" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
  13. ↑ "Cheyenne Knight Becomes the First Former Alabama Women's Golfer to Win on the LPGA Tour". Alabama Crimson Tide. October 6, 2019.
  14. ↑ Ol' Colony yardage
  15. ↑ The Jerry Pate Golf Center
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.