Tide Men's Golf Has Good Finish

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga.. – The Alabama men’s golf team produced an impressive final round on Sunday at the 2009 SEC Men’s Golf Championship at the Frederica Golf Club to finish in sixth place at 9-over-par 873 for the 54-hole event.

Alabama scorched the par-72, 7,331-yard Frederica Golf Club layout with a 7-under-par 281 to move up three more places in the standings on the final day. UA’s 281 was the second-best round of the day with LSU making an even bigger move up the leaderboard to finish tied for fourth with a tournament-best 11-under-par round of 277.

“Today was another good day,” Alabama Coach Jay Seawell said. “Unfortunately, we dug such a hole the first day there wasn’t anything you could do about it.. I can’t say I’m happy about a sixth-place finish, because at Alabama you are never satisfied with sixth, but I was very proud of the way this team responded. We challenged them to play Alabama golf over the final two rounds of the tournament, and that is what they did. Now we have to build on it, because those last two rounds were very good.”

Georgia ran away with the team title firing a 15-under-par total of 849 over 54 holes to beat second-place Arkansas by 13 shots. Florida finished third at 1-over 865 with LSU and South Carolina tied for fourth.

Florida’s Billy Horschel claimed the team title with a 10-under-par total of 206 that edged Mississippi State’s Carlos Sainz by two shots (208).

Tide true freshman Bud Cauley continued to impress on Sunday with a 3-under-par 69 that left him in a tie for fifth place at his first SEC Championship. Cauley strung together rounds of 73 (+1), 70 (-2) and 69 (-3) to record his fourth top-five finish of the season in eight tournaments.

Redshirt freshman Hunter Hamrick turned in his second consecutive sub-par round with a 1-under 71 that left him in a tie with teammate Matthew Swan in 17th at 3-over-par 219. The Montgomery, Ala., senior also shot a 1-under-par 71 in the final round for his best finish of the spring.

Senior Matt Hughes produced his best round of the tournament with a 2-under 70 that left him in a tie for 43rd at 11-over 227. Redshirt freshman Hunter Slatton fired a 79 on Sunday and finished 58th.

The Crimson Tide will now await a bid to the NCAA Tournament and a regional assignment to one of six NCAA Regionals in Galloway, N.J., Austin, Texas, Daly City Calif.., Sorrento, Fla., Bowling Green, Ky., or Stillwater, Okla., which will be held on May 14-16.