Alabama
Carpet Capital Collegiate
Alabama Men’s Golf Falls in Playoff, Finishes Second Overall At Carpet Capital Collegiate
9/10/2017 4:08:00 PM | Men's Golf
Riley and Hodges lead come-from-behind effort with each finishing among the top 10
DALTON, Ga. – Behind the play of junior Davis Riley and senior Lee Hodges, the No. 19 Alabama men's golf came from behind to finish with a share of the lead in the final round of the Carpet Capital Collegiate on Sunday afternoon. However, after the Crimson Tide and No. 18 Georgia Tech each carded a team score of 14-under par 850 after 54 holes, it was the tournament host Yellow Jackets that won the team title in a three-hole playoff, narrowly defeating the Tide.
Despite losing the team title, Alabama had an impressive showing, including shooting 20-under par over the final 36 holes to be in position to win this year's season-opening event. After finishing the opening round in eighth place with a 6-over par 294, Alabama responded with an 11-under par 277 on Saturday, followed by a 9-under par 279 Sunday to sit atop the field after 54 holes of play. Moreover, the Tide's final two rounds were the two lowest rounds in the entire field throughout the three-day event.
"I'm real proud because I think we showed a great deal of resiliency," Alabama head coach Jay Seawell said. "In the first tournament of the year, I think there's a lot we can learn, even when we were doing things well. We have a theme this year of bouncing back after something doesn't go our way and I thought our guys did a great job of that. We were pretty much irrelevant through the first nine holes today, but over the last six or seven holes we played some seriously stellar golf. I'm really proud of our guys doing a great job and giving our team a chance to win."
The Tide was led by junior Davis Riley and senior Lee Hodges, both of which finished in the top-10 in third and ninth place, respectively.
Riley began his third round at even par through the first nine holes before getting hot on the back nine. An eagle on the par 5 12th hole, followed by birdies on 14, 15 and 17, led Riley to finish at 5-under par 67 on Sunday, which matched the tournament's low round of the day. The Hattiesburg, Miss., native ended the three day, 54-hole tournament at 7-under par 209 (73-69-67). It marked his eighth top-10 tournament finish and the fourth time he finished among the top-five individuals.
Hodges also played well throughout, finishing the event at 5-under par 211 (74-67-70). The Ardmore, Tenn., native recorded the sixth top-10 finish in 12 tournaments at Alabama and the 15th top-10 result in his career. Hodges played the entire second round without a bogey and had 29 consecutive bogey-free holes – a run that stretched from the 14th hole of his first round through the eighth hole on Sunday's final round, helping lead the Tide's climb the leaderboard.
Senior Steven Setterstrom tied for 34th place overall with a three-day total of 4-over par 220 (74-70-76) on the par 72, 7,012-yard Farm Golf Club. Senior Jonathan Hardee rebounded after shooting an 81 on Saturday to card a 4-under par 68 on Sunday. He closed play tied for 44th with a 6-over 222 (73-81-68).
Freshman Davis Shore, playing in his first career collegiate event, ended the tournament at 7-over par 223 (78-71-74).
Alabama led the entire field in total birdies with 57, while its 4.06 (+9) average on par 4s was third-best in the entire field.
The Crimson Tide will return to action next weekend when it competes at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational on Sept. 15-17 in Olympia Fields, Ill. Live stats throughout the event will be on Golfstat.com.
"We'll get home tonight and get our school work done over the next two days before we head to Chicago," Seawell said. "It's one of my favorite tournaments and one of the great golf courses (Olympia Fields) in all of the United States. We need to be ready to play against a great field and great golf course. I'm excited for the quick turnaround."
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Players Mentioned
