Tide Opens 2004-05 Men's Golf Season Saturday
9/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
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TUSCALOOSA – Jay Seawell enters his third season as the University of Alabama men’s golf coach with his youngest squad ever but one that could potentially be his most talented.
Alabama’s youth will be tested, and in evidence, this weekend when the Crimson Tide opens its 2004-05 golf season at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at the Ridges in Johnson City, Tenn. Among the 15 teams in the field are seven top twenty five ranked teams including No. 2 Clemson, No. 10 Texas Christian, No. 15 South Carolina, No. 18 Oklahoma, No. 21 Wake Forest, No. 23 Duke and No. 24 Kansas. Also competing are No. 28 ranked LSU, No. 30 ranked Tennessee, No. 31 ranked North Carolina, host East Tennessee State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Florida State. The tournament will begin on Saturday, September 11 with 36 holes followed by the third and final round on Sunday.
“We want, week in and week out, all of our tournaments to include tough fields,” said Seawell. “We like it that way. You get to see how you stand. This summer we’ve had a chance for all the guys to play and compete on their own. We haven’t had a lot of team practice time leading into this first tournament because of the NCAA rules, but they have had so much play time and tournament time (individually) this summer that they are ready to compete against good teams early in the fall, unlike the beginning of the spring season when everybody’s a little rusty after not having played during the winter. I think our games are in order. We want to see where we stand against the Clemson’s, the TCU’s. These are teams that make runs for national championships and that’s our goal. We need to find out where we stand early so we’ll know what we need to work on as the season goes on.”
Three golfers will make their University of Alabama debuts in the tournament, including Daphne’s Joseph Sykora, a redshirt freshman last year. True freshman Mark Harrell of Hazelhurst, Ga., debuts as does Augusta State transfer Thomas Hagler. They’ll join two veterans, senior Clint Provost of Pensacola, Fla., and Trussville’s Lance Walker. Provost has played in 35 tournaments for Alabama and brings a 73.22 career stroke average into his senior season. Walker has competed in 14 and has a 75.44 career stroke average.
“Anytime you get a chance to start a season you’re always excited about playing, especially this year where we’ve got three new faces playing in the first tournament” said Seawell who coached Alabama to the NCAA postseason his first year in 2002. “That adds a little bit even more excitement and a lot of the unknown also. We’re starting two freshmen, Joseph and Mark, so two are making their college debut. And then Thomas, who played at Augusta State and played some NCAA regionals, is making his first start at Alabama, so it’s like a fresh start for him, too. That’s something we’re looking forward to, to see how they perform. The unknown is out there. I guess that’s going to be the theme. I think we’re ready. I think we have the talent to play at that level, but we’ll just see what we can do.”
Nine of Alabama’s 11 golfers have a year or less of experience at Alabama, including five freshmen. Because of that and underclassmen’s talent, Seawell says he expects to see Alabama mix up its roster. “Competition for qualifying spots will be very competitive throughout the fall, and we’re going to have a qualifier for each tournament. So I think we could have a different starting lineup at every event, at least in the fall.
“We have three true freshmen. Thomas is a junior but this is his first year here. Joseph, Stewart Whitt, Max Alverio, Dwight Rogers and Ole Olson, all those guys have been here for one year or less. So it should make for an interesting fall.”
Alabama’s 2004-05 season begins this weekend and continues through late spring. Among the five fall tournaments Alabama competes in will be its own mini-national, the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate which will be October 11-12 at Birmingham’s Old Overton Club. That event brings together 12 national powerhouses, teams that finished among the top at the previous season’s NCAA championships and are preseason favorites to repeat that success. Among the teams coming is Vanderbilt which includes 2004 U.S. Amateur finalist Luke List.
