Nick Gross, the PIAA Class AAA champion as a sophomore at Downingtown West in 2021, got the second half of his freshman season at Southeastern Conference power Alabama off to a solid start as he finished in a tie for sixth place and helped the Crimson Tide earn runnerup honors in the Watersound Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at the Shark’s Tooth Golf Course in Panama City Beach, Fla.
Host Florida State, behind Luke Clanton, a junior from Hialeah, Fla. and the No. 1 player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), rallied in the final round to overtake Alabama and capture the team crown with a 26-under 838 total.
The tournament was originally scheduled to be 18 holes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, but with stormy weather bearing down on the Florida Panhandle, the teams wrapped things up with a double round Tuesday after 18 holes on a Presidents Day Monday.
The field included three of the eight teams that earned a spot in the match-play bracket in last spring’s NCAA Championship at the La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. Florida State, an Atlantic Coast Conference power, earned a spot in the Final Match at La Costa, the Seminoles falling to SEC champion Auburn.
Somehow, Florida State, despite the imposing presence of Clanton in the lineup, had dropped to No. 33 in the Scoreboard, powered by clippd, rankings. Of course, Clanton keeps running off to tee it up in PGA Tour events.
He made eight cuts in 11 starts on the PGA Tour in 2024, including a pair of runnerup finishes. He has a sponsor’s exemption for next week’s Cognizant Classic at the PGA National Resort & Spa’s Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
The kid can turn pro anytime he wants, although you get the impression he’s got some unfinished business with the Florida State program and he did accept an invitation to participate in a practice session for candidates for the U.S. Walker Cup team in December in Jupiter, Fla.
The Walker Cup Match against Great Britain & Ireland doesn’t tee off until Sept. 6 at the iconic Cypress Point Club on northern California’s Monterey Peninsula.
Clanton announced Thursday that he signed an apparel deal with Nike Golf, which, in the brave new world of NIL, does not affect his amateur status. That should allow him to remain an amateur through the Walker Cup, but if he wins the Cognizant Classic next week, all bets might be off.
Alabama knows a little about all of this, the Crimson Tide having lost their best player, Nick Dunlap, to the PGA Tour when the kid went out and won The American Express, a PGA Tour stop in the California desert as an amateur. Dunlap turned pro and his Alabama teammates, most of whom are trying to get to golf’s big leagues themselves, didn’t begrudge Dunlap for his sudden departure from the program for one second.
Clanton teased the field in the Watersound, hosted by Florida State, by opening with a 1-over 73 over the 7,246-yard, par-72 Shark’s Tooth layout. But he went off in Tuesday’s double round with a 6-under 66 in the morning and a 5-under 67 in the afternoon for a 10-under 206 total that was three shots clear of the field and gave Clanton his fifth career collegiate victory.
Florida State opened with a sparkling 10-under 278, but allowed Alabama to overtake it when the Crimson Tide ripped off an 11-under 277 in Tuesday morning’s second round while the Seminoles posted a 1-under 287, despite Clanton’s 66.
But Florida State responded to the challenge with a final round of 15-under 273, the low team round of the tournament, to get it to 26-under and finish nine shots clear of Alabama.
Alabama, No. 23 in the Scoreboard rankings, had opened with a 3-under 285 and its 11-under surge in Tuesday morning’s second round gave the Crimson Tide a three-shot lead over Florida State going into the final round.
Alabama closed with another solid 3-under 285, but couldn’t keep up with Florida State, the Crimson Tide earning runnerup honors with a 17-under 847 total.
Alabama failed to advance to the NCAA Championship at La Costa last spring as a two seed in the Chapel Hill Regional. Not a lot of programs could survive the loss of a player the caliber of Dunlap in the middle of the season, but I’m sure the Crimson Tide are anxious to redeem themselves this spring.
Three of Clanton’s fellow Seminoles finished among the six players tied for sixth place at 5-under 211, one of whom, Carson Brewer, a sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., was competing as an individual.
Tyler Weaver, a sophomore from England and one of the heroes of Florida State’s run to the Final Match at La Costa last spring, opened with a 1-over 73 at Shark’s Tooth and added a 1-under 71 in Tuesday morning’s second round before contributing a sparkling 5-under 67 to the Seminoles’ final-round surge to get it to 5-under.
Michael Mays, a senior from Winter Park, Fla., helped fuel Florida State’s fast start with a 5-under 67 in the opening round. He matched par in both of his Tuesday rounds with a pair of 72s to join the group at 5-under.
Brewer made his case for a spot in the Florida State lineup as he added a 2-under 70 in Tuesday morning’s second round to his opening round of 2-over 74 before closing with a sparkling 5-under 67.
The good news for Alabama was that Gross’ strong showing was only the third best for the Crimson Tide.
Jonathan Griz, a junior from Hilton Head, S.C. and No. 96 in the WAGR, and Jones Free, a senior from Selma, Ala., shared second place in the individual standings, each ending up three shots behind Clanton at 7-under 209.
Griz recorded a pair of 2-under 70s in the first two rounds before closing with a 3-under 69. Free actually took a two-shot advantage over Clanton into the final round after adding a 5-under 67 in Tuesday morning’s second round to his opening round of 2-under 70. Free matched par in the final round with a 72.
Which brings us to Gross. I used to record his results in this blog when he was dominating the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour’s 12-and-under nine-holers and watched in complete amazement when the kid reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur a week shy of his 16th birthday in 2022 at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.
I wrapped up Gross’ fall campaign in a post in November. Nothing spectacular, although veteran Alabama head coach Jay Seawell didn’t seem to hesitate to put his prized freshman in the lineup.
Gross opened with a 3-under 69 at Shark’s Tooth and matched par with a 72 in Tuesday morning’s second round before closing with a 2-under 70 to join the group tied for sixth place at 5-under.
He will be most pumped about the runnerup finish for the team because that’s the kind of guy Nick Gross is. All in all, a pretty good jumping-off point for Gross and Alabama for the spring portion of the wraparound 2024-2025 season.
UCLA, a member of the Big 10’s new West wing, traveled across the country and finished in third place, four shots behind Alabama with a 13-under 851 total.
The Bruins, No. 14 in the Scoreboard rankings, were solid throughout, adding a 4-under 284 in Tuesday morning’s second round to their opening round of 7-under 281 before closing with a 2-under 286. UCLA failed to advance to last spring’s NCAA Championship as a six seed in the Stanford Regional.
The other two teams that reached match play in last spring’s NCAA Championship in the Watersound field, perennial ACC power Georgia Tech, No. 16 in the Scoreboard rankings, and perennial SEC power Vanderbilt, No. 12 in the Scoreboard rankings, accounted for the next two spots in the team standings, the Yellow Jackets finishing in fourth place, a shot behind UCLA with a 12-under 852 total, and the Commodores another shot behind Georgia Tech in fifth with an 11-under 853 total.
Georgia Tech struggled in the opening round at Shark’s Tooth with a 3-over 291, but turned it on after that, adding a 2-under 286 in Tuesday morning’s second round before closing with a sparkling 13-under 275 in the final round.
Georgia Tech, coming off a 10th-place finish in its annual trip to the Amer Ari Invitational on Hawaii’s Kohala Coast, just kept running into Florida State a year ago, falling to the Seminoles in the ACC’s match-play semifinals and again in the national semifinals at La Costa.
Vanderbilt, too, struggled in the opening round with a 9-over 297 before finding its groove, the Commodores registering a 6-under 282 in Tuesday morning’s second round before closing with a sparkling 14-under 274.
A supremely talented Vanderbilt team was upset by Ohio State in the NCAA Championship quarterfinals a year ago at La Costa. But at Vandy, they don’t rebuild, they just reload.
The leading men for Georgia Tech – Benjamin Reuter, a redshirt junior from The Netherlands – and Vanderbilt – Jackson Van Paris, a senior from Pinehurst, N.C. and No. 8 in the WAGR – finished in a tie for fourth place in the individual standings, each ending up a shot behind the Alabama duo of Griz and Free at 6-under 210.
Reuter, who took the 2023-’24 season off, matched par in the opening round with a 72 before signing for back-to-back 3-under 69s in the final two rounds. Van Paris matched par in Tuesday’s second round with a 72 after opening with a 2-over 70 before closing with a solid 4-under 68.
Mississippi State, another SEC entry and No. 19 in the Scoreboard rankings, finished four shots behind Vanderbilt in sixth place with a 7-under 857 total. After opening with a 3-over 291, the Bulldogs added a 2-under 286 in Tuesday morning’s second round before closing with a solid 8-under 280.
Mississippi State failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a seven seed in the West Lafayette Regional last spring.
North Carolina State, another ACC entry ranked 46th in the Scoreboard rankings, finished three shots behind Mississippi State in seventh place in the 12-team field with a 4-under 860 total. The Wolfpack finished strong with a 13-under 275 in the final round. They had struggled a little in the opening round with an 8-over 296 before adding a 1-over 289 in Tuesday morning’s second round.
Another freshman from the Philadelphia area popped up in the N.C. State lineup in Hunter Stetson, winner of the Bert Linton Inter-Ac League individual championship as a sophomore at Episcopal Academy in 2021 and one of the Inter-Ac’s top players for the two falls that followed. I’ll get into more detail on Stetson’s showing at the Watersound a little later in this post.
Backing up the trio of Seminoles who finished in the top six was Gray Albright, a graduate student from Ocala, Fla. and No. 33 in the WAGR who finished among the group tied for 30th place at even-par 216. Albright contributed a sparkling 5-under 67 to Florida State’s strong start. He struggled in Tuesday morning’s second round with a 79, but bounced back in the final round with a counting 2-under 70.
Rounding out the Florida State lineup was Jack Bigham, a junior from England and No. 46 in the WAGR who finished in a tie for 39th place with a 2-over 218 total. After opening with a 1-under 71, Bigham also struggled in Tuesday morning’s second round with a 78 before closing with a solid 3-under 69.
Joining the trio of Seminoles and Alabama’s Gross in the group tied for sixth place at 5-under 211 were N.C. State’s Nick Mathews, a redshirt senior from Mebane, N.C. and No. 72 in the WAGR, and UCLA’s Pablo Ereno, a senior from Spain.
After opening with a 1-over 73, Mathews posted a 2-under 70 in Tuesday morning’s second round before closing with a solid 4-under 68. Ereno was very much in the hunt for the individual title after he added a 3-under 69 in Tuesday morning’s second round to his opening round of 2-under 70, but could only match par in the final round with a 72.
It was a nice showing for Mathews’ N.C. State teammate Stetson, who finished among the group tied for 30th place at even-par 216. After matching par in the opening round with a 72, Stetson, a product of the junior program at Aronimink Golf Club, struggled a little in Tuesday morning’s second round with a 3-over 75.
But Stetson contributed a solid 3-under 69 to the Wolfpack’s final-round surge.
Stetson had been in the lineup for N.C. State in the Trinity Forest Invitational in October at Trinity Forest Golf Club in Dallas, Texas, where he finished in a tie for 71st place. Stetson also competed as an individual for the Wolfpack in Duke’s Rod Myers Invitational to open the 2024-’25 season and finished in a tie for 56th place.
Notre Dame sophomore Rocco Salvitti, a four-time PIAA Class AAA qualifier at Pittsburgh Central Catholic, finished in 58th place in the Watersound for the Fightin’ Irish with a 224 total. Salvitti added a 1-over 73 in Tuesday morning’s second round to his opening-round 76 before closing with a 75.
Notre Dame, an ACC representative and 24th in the Scoreboard rankings, finished in 10th place in the team standings with a 7-over 871 total.
Salvitti helped Notre Dame finish in third place in the Austin Regional last spring and earn its first trip to the NCAA Championship since 1966.
Junior Calen Sanderson, who had a lively scholastic rivalry with Gross for a couple of years while Sanderson was starring at Holy Ghost Prep, competed as an individual for Notre Dame. After opening with a 6-over 78, Sanderson carded back-to-back 75s in the final two rounds to finish among the trio tied for 65th place with a 228 total.
Sanderson captured the PIAA Class AAA title in 2020 with Gross finishing in third place and Gross turned the tables on Sanderson the following year with Gross taking the state crown and Sanderson ending up third.
Sanderson was the runnerup in the Pennsylvania Open two summers ago at the Country Club of York, a showing that propelled him to the Pennsylvania Golf Association’s Player of the Year award for 2023.
There was one more product of the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour in the field at the Watersound as Navy junior Jack Tarzy, a scholastic standout at The Hun School of Princeton, finished in the group tied for 54th place with a 223 total. Tarzy added a 5-over 77 in Tuesday morning’s second round to his opening-round 74 before matching par in the final round with a 72.
The Midshipmen, a Patriot League representative, finished last of the tough 12-team field with a 28-over 892 total.
No comments:
Post a Comment