It was a disappointing spring for Alabama a year ago as the perennial Southeastern Conference power was unable to land a team berth in the NCAA regionals.
Looks like that’s going to change this spring. Behind individual champion Nick Dunlap, a member of a pretty strong freshman class all around the country, the Crimson Tide beat two of the best teams in the country, Atlantic Coast Conference power Georgia Tech, and their SEC rival Vanderbilt to capture the team title in the Linger Longer Invitational, which wrapped up Tuesday at Reynolds Lake Oconee’s Great Waters Golf Course in Eatonton, Ga.
Alabama held a one-shot advantage on another SEC rival, Georgia, going into Tuesday’s final round. But the Crimson Tide closed with a solid 8-under 280 to finish eight shots clear of Georgia Tech with a 14-under 850 total.
Vanderbilt, which has been No. 1 in the Golfstat rankings for pretty much the entirety of the wraparound 2022-2023 season, was another six shots behind the Yellow Jackets in third place.
Alabama had opened with a 5-under-par 283 before adding a 1-under 287 in Monday’s second round. The victory in the Linger Longer, the Crimson Tide’s sixth in the event but their first since 2018, enabled them to move up three spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 20 to No. 17.
It was the second win of the season for Alabama, which seems to be peaking at just the right time with the SEC Championship teeing off April 19 at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course in Sea Island, Ga.
If you’re looking for a difference between the Alabama of a year ago and this Alabama team, you probably don’t need to look any further than the addition of Dunlap, a freshman from Huntsville, Ala. and No. 51 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Dunlap was a standout on the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) circuit. He won the U.S. Junior Amateur two summers ago at the Country Club of North Carolina and reached the semifinals in defense of that title last summer at Bandon Dunes.
Dunlap carded a sparkling 6-under 66 over the 7,436-yard, par-72 Great Waters layout in Monday’s second round after opening with a 2-under 70 to take a one-shot lead in the individual chase into Tuesday’s final round.
Dunlap closed with another 2-under 70 for a 10-under 206 total that was two shots clear of the pair of Georgia Tech’s Christo Lamprecht, a junior from South Africa and No. 19 in the WAGR, and Vanderbilt’s William Moll, a senior from Houston and No. 100 in the WAGR and who was competing as an individual for the Commodores.
Georgia Tech was only seven shots behind Alabama going into the final round after bouncing back from an opening round of 4-over 292 with a 3-under 285. Behind the best individual round of the tournament, a scintillating 8-under 64 by Ross Steelman, a senior from Columbia, Mo. and No. 24 in the WAGR, Georgia Tech closed with a 7-under 281, to finish in second place with a 6-under 858 total.
The Yellow Jackets, who shared the team title with Oklahoma State in last spring’s NCAA Columbus Regional, maintained their No. 11 ranking with their runnerup finish.
Georgia Tech will tee off in search of an ACC title beginning April 21 at the same Country Club of North Carolina layout where Dunlap won the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2021 in Pinehurst, N.C. The Yellow Jackets suffered a 3-2 setback to Wake Forest in a hard-fought ACC final last spring.
Vanderbilt, which remained atop the Golfstat rankings, had a pair of 2-under 286s in the first two rounds, was just two shots behind Alabama going into Tuesday’s final round. The Commodores closed with a 4-over 292 to finish six shots behind Georgia Tech in third place with an even-par 864 total.
Vanderbilt will be the defending SEC champion when the most competitive conference in the country holds its championship next month at Sea Island.
Georgia Tech’s ACC rival, Clemson, ranked 44th in the aftermath of the Linger Longer, finished three shots behind Vanderbilt in fourth place with a 3-over 867 total. The Tigers added a 3-over 291 in Monday’s second round to their opening round of 7-over 295 before closing with a solid 7-under 281.
Georgia was just a shot behind Alabama going into the final round as the Bulldogs matched par in Monday’s second round with a 288 after matching the Crimson Tide’s opening round of 5-under 283. Georgia closed with a 9-over 297 to share fifth place with Chattanooga with a 4-over 868 total, a shot behind Clemson.
The Bulldogs advanced to last spring’s NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. as a three seed in the Bryan Regional. Like its cross-state rival Georgia Tech, Georgia was unable to earn a spot in the match-play bracket at Grayhawk. Georgia’s tie for fifth place in the Linger Longer enabled it to move up four spots in the Golfstat rankings from No. 34 to No. 30.
Chattanooga, out of the Southern Conference, opened with an 8-over 296, matched par in the second round with a 288 and closed with a 4-under 284 to catch Georgia at 4-over. Chattanooga was ranked No. 50 following the Linger Longer.
The Moccasins got a big boost from sophomore Garrett Engle, a scholastic standout at Central Dauphin, although Engle never participated in the PIAA postseason during his high school career.
The kid who finished in a tie for fourth place in the Pennsylvania Amateur at Aronimink Golf Club in 2019 went to Oklahoma and redshirted last season before deciding to transfer to Chattanooga.
Engle was right there with some of the best players in college golf this week at Great Waters, sandwiching a 1-under 71 in Monday’s second round with a pair of 2-under 70s as he finished in a tie for fourth place with the No. 1 player in the WAGR, Vanderbilt’s Gordan Sargent, a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala., at 5-under 211.
Another SEC power, Arkansas, finished eight shots behind Georgia and Chattanooga in seventh place in the 16-team field with a 12-over 876 total. The Razorbacks added an 11-over 299 in Monday’s second round to their opening round of 6-over 294 before finishing strong with a 5-under 283.
Arkansas failed to advance to the NCAA Championship as a three seed at the Columbus Regional.
Backing up Dunlap for Alabama was J.P. Cave, a junior from Mobile, Ala. who finished in a tie for sixth place with a 3-over 213 total. Cave sandwiched a 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round with a pair of even-par 72s.
Thomas Ponder, a senior from Dothan, Ala., was two shots behind his teammate Cave in a tie for eighth place with a 1-under 215 total. Ponder matched par with a 72 in the opening round and added a 3-over 75 in Monday’s second round. But with the team title on the line, Ponder was at his best, earning low Tide honors for the day with a critical 4-under 68.
Alabama got a similarly clutch final round from its other veteran senior, Canon Claycomb, the Bowling Green, Ky. native and No. 65 in the WAGR. Claycomb matched par with a 72 in the opening round and struggled to a 5-over 77 in Monday’s second round, but closed with a solid 2-under 70 to finish among the group tied for 24th place with a 3-over 219 total.
Ponder and Claycomb represented Alabama as individuals in the Bryan Regional a year ago with Claycomb coming up just short of a trip to Grayhawk as he fell in a playoff for the lone individual berth up for grabs for a player from a non-advancing team.
Rounding out the Alabama lineup was Jonathan Griz, a freshman from Hilton Head, S.C. who finished in the group tied for 79th place with a 235 total. Griz was the Alabama medalist in the opening round with a 3-under 69, but struggled after that, carding a 7-over 79 in Monday’s second round before closing with an 87.
Georgia Tech’s Lamprecht opened with a 1-over 73, then came on strong with a 4-under 68 in Monday’s second round and a 5-under 67 in the final round to get his share of runnerup honors with an 8-under 208 total.
Vanderbilt’s Moll made his case for a return to the first five for the Commodores as he matched par in the opening round with a 72, posted a sizzling 6-under 66 in Monday’s second round and closed with a 2-under 70 to share second place with Lamprecht at 8-under.
Moll got the lone full point for Vanderbilt in its 3.5-1.5 loss to eventual national champion Texas in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Grayhawk last spring.
Sharing fourth place with Chattanooga’s Engle at 5-under 211 was Vanderbilt’s Sargent, the reigning NCAA individual champion. Sargent, who has been trading the No. 1 spot in the WAGR rankings with Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg, was typically solid, adding a pair of 1-under 71s in the last two rounds to his opening round of 3-under 69.
Joining Alabama’s Cave in the tie for sixth place at 3-under 213 was Georgia’s Connor Creasy, a senior from Abingdon, ‘Va. Creasy was just a shot behind Dunlap going into the final round after he added 3-under 69 in Monday’s second round to his opening round of 4-under 68. Creasy struggled a little in the final round, closing with a 4-over 76.
Joining Alabama’s Ponder in the tie for eighth place at 1-under 215 was Clemson’s Kian Rose, a redshirt sophomore from South Africa who opened with a 2-under 70 and added a 2-over 74 in Monday’s second round before closing with a 1-under 71.
Three Georgia Tech players were part of a foursome that rounded out the top 10 in the individual standings in a tie for 10th place at even-par 216.
Steelman struggled to an 80 in the opening round and matched par in the second round before unfurling his 64, an eight-birdie, no-bogey masterpiece, in the final round to zoom up the leaderboard and get his piece of 10th place.
Fellow Yellow Jacket Connor Howe, a senior from Ogden, Utah and No. 66 in the WAGR, opened with a 4-under 68, backed off with a 4-over 76 in Monday’s second round and matched par in the final round with a 72.
Benjamin Reuter, a sophomore from The Woodlands, Texas, gave Georgia Tech a fourth top-10 finisher, although he was competing as an individual and didn’t count in the team tally. Reuter added a 1-over 73 in Monday’s second round to his opening-round 74 before closing with a 3-under 69.
Rounding out the quartet at even par was Arkansas’ Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira, a senior from Argentina and No. 26 in the WAGR. Fernandez de Oliveira started strong with a 4-under 68, fell back to even with a 4-over 76 in Monday’s second round and matched par in the final round with a 72.
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