TUSCALOOSA – So far the University of Alabama men’s golf team is two-for-two this season in successfully defending the tournament championships it won last season. This weekend the Crimson Tide will try to make that stat three-for-three when it travels to Pontre Vedra Beach, Fla., and Sawgrass Country Club to defend its 2007 championship at the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational.
Competing for Alabama will be Michael Thompson (68.67), Mark Harrell (71.58), Joseph Sykora (72.00), Matt Hughes (71.11) and Matthew Swan (74.67).
Alabama goes into the three-day tournament, which begins with first round play on Sunday, ranked No. 2 in the Golf Week/Sagarin rankings and No. 3 in the Golf World/Nike Coaches’ poll. Jay Seawell’s Crimson Tide team, winner of four tournament championships last season, has already won two tournament championships this season, the Carpet Capital Intercollegiate and the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, two events it won last season as well.
The John Hayt Collegiate Invitational is hosted by the University of North Florida. The 2008 field includes Alabama, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Florida, Georgia State, Indiana, Notre Dame, Pepperdine, South Carolina, Tennessee, UAB, Central Florida, UCLA, North Florida and Vanderbilt.
“The field is strong. You have Charlotte who hasn’t lost yet. They’ve won every tournament they’ve played in,” said Alabama head golf coach Jay Seawell. “We have defended successfully twice this season, which I think is a testament to the players on our team. It’s really hard to defend. We’re looking forward to that opportunity, especially with this field. So if we’re able to go and successfully defend the title against this caliber of field, it will be a good building block for the rest of the semester.”
The Crimson Tide is the tournament’s defending champion, besting the field of 15 on February 20, 2007 by shooting 303-291-287/881.
“It’s always good being the past champion. We know the golf course well. We know the competition. We’ve just got to go out there and be ready to play,” said Alabama senior golfer Mark Harrell who competed, as an amateur in the 2007 U.S. Open and missed the cut by just one stroke. “From the time I got here my freshman year, I’ve seen a gradual change in attitude. We’ve eventually gone from enjoying playing the game to believing we can win. And that’s what we do every day when we go out and practice. We try to get better because we believe we can win. Last year we came close to winning the NCAA Championship, and I think we’ve got a desire to do better this year and have that opportunity again.”
Alabama’s last event was its final fall event, the October 28-30 Callaway Golf Match Play Championships. Its last stroke play event was the October 8-9 Jerry Pate in Birmingham.
“It does feel like it’s been a while,” said Seawell. “You’re always excited about the beginning of the season and at the same time it’s hard to believe it’s already here. It feels like we just started practicing just the other day. But we’re looking forward to it. It’s a great tournament to start in. The golf course is a very good golf course. It’s a great test and the field is one of the top in the country. You’ve got three teams in the top four who are going to be there, so it’s something to look forward to.”
Among the ranked teams are (with the Coaches’ poll listed first), No. 2/No. 3 Charlotte, No. 3/No. 2 Alabama, No. 4/No. 5 UCLA, No. 10/No. 9 Florida, No. 15/No. 20 South Carolina, No. 22/19 Indiana, No. 23/No. 10 Tennessee, and No. 24 Golfweek Central Florida.
“I think being the defending champion puts a little bit more burden upon you because you remember last year, especially since everyone who was on the team basically last year is on this year’s team,” said Seawell. “However it is the first tournament of the year and you go into those with a little bit more excitement and a little less expectation because it is still winter. We’ve only had a few weeks to get ourselves ready. So it’s kind of a balancing act, the pressure and the burden and honor of being the defending champion. But also it’s the beginning of the year and it’s exciting. Our games are just in the beginning stages of getting where we want them to be.”
Alabama returned with its lineup intact from a 2007 team that placed sixth at the NCAA Championships and won four team championships. Thompson played in three of the four fall tournaments and has a 68.67 stroke average going into the spring. He’s finished under par in three of those tournaments. Just days after returning from California and the U.S. Am, he was on a plane bound for Japan with his teammates to open the team’s season. He finished T-3rd at the Topy Cup, shooting 9-under. He finished second at the Carpet Capital at 5-under and T-3rd at the Jerry Pate at 13-under par. Harrell tied for first at a school record 198 (66-64-68) at the Jerry Pate. He competed in all four fall stroke play events and has a 71.58 stroke average going into the spring. Sykora won the Topy Cup at 14-under par (67-66-69/202) and has a 72.00 average to open the spring.
Seawell says last year’s team, that was ranked No. 1 in the nation from late September through February last season, was good, but this year the men have come back perhaps even stronger and certainly more determined.
“I think I saw it immediately after we left the NCAA’s last year. There was a hunger in their eyes,” said Seawell. “They finished sixth and that’s the second-best finish in the history of the school, but I remember looking at every one of them on the flight home and you could see it. They were thinking, ‘Wow. We didn’t accomplish what we wanted to.’ They wanted to get better. So I’ve seen a hunger and an eagerness to improve on what we did last year. To win some championships, a few more regular season and in postseason. Plus I think the development of (2007 U.S. Amateur participant) Matt Hughes has sparked our team into a really competitive team. We have the five guys returning from last year and then Matt also is one of the top players in the country right now. So the competition within all six guys (including NCAA participant Gator Todd) has just made us a better team.”
Alabama’s remaining two spots were determined by a qualifier with Hughes and Swan winning the final spots. Teams vary formulas for picking who competes at tournaments. At Alabama, it’s all determined on the course. If a player wins an individual tournament championship, he gets five exemptions, meaning he automatically gets to play in five tournaments without going through a team qualifier for an open spot. Harrell and Sykora both won tournaments in the fall, so they’ve had exemptions. Each time a player finishes among the top three individuals, he gets one exemption. Thompson has finished among the top three in all his tournaments, so he’s made the team each time.
“That’s the great thing about golf. It’s decided on the golf course,” said Seawell. “We’re going to leave an All-American or an All-Southeastern Conference caliber player at home which is a tribute to the depth of this team.”
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