Gross held his spot in the starting lineup as Alabama battled its way through a tough fall schedule

 

   Did manage to sneak in a post on the college debut of Nick Gross, the 2021 PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Downingtown West who is the best player produced by District One since, I don’t know, Buddy Marucci, Jay Sigel?

   Gross finished in a somewhat unimpressive tie for 55^th place for Alabama in the Fields of Honor Collegiate, which was held at American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Mich. But the Crimson Tide captured the team title and knowing what I know of Gross, that made it a successful debut in his eyes.

   I mentioned at the time how difficult it is for any player, let alone a freshman, to earn a spot in the starting lineup for a program like Southeastern Conference power Alabama.

   The qualifying tournaments at Alabama to get into the starting lineup were probably the most pressure Gross has felt since he was playing in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J. as a 15-year-old in the summer of 2022.

   And Gross stayed in the lineup for the Crimson Tide in each of the three tournaments they played in following their victory at American Dunes.

   It did not go as well for Alabama in those three tournaments, but Jay Seawell, whose 22 seasons at the helm at Tuscaloosa includes back-to-back national championships in 2013 and 2014, wasn’t ducking anyone with this schedule.

   The Crimson Tide were competing all fall against the elite teams in college golf. They took their lumps, but that’s the kind of competition they’re going to be facing next spring as they try to reach their ultimate goal: A spot in the field in the NCAA Championship at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

   Alabama didn’t reach that goal last year, but it might have made it if the Crimson Tide’s best player, Nick Dunlap, didn’t have the audacity to win a PGA Tour event, The American Express, in the California desert in January and then make the entirely correct decision to immediately turn pro.

   Alabama’s fall campaign concluded in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, which wrapped up Oct. 20th at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alpharetta, Ga. and the Crimson Tide finished in 14^th place of 14 teams. Alabama wasn’t horrible, it was just a loaded field.

   Duke, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, and UCLA of the Big Ten – seriously, the Big Ten – battled it out for the team crown with the Blue Devils coming on strong with a sizzling final round of 17-under-par 271 over the 7,092-yard, par-72 Golf Club of Georgia layout to finish three shots clear of the Bruins.

   The Dookies opened with relatively modest rounds of 5-under 283 and 6-under 282 and trailed UCLA by six shots and ACC rival Virginia by five going into the final round. But Duke’s spectacular final round left the Blue Devils with a 28-under 836 total.

   UCLA, coming across the country, opened with back-to-back 8-under 280s. The Bruins weren’t bad in the final round, posting a solid 9-under 279, just not as good as Duke was as UCLA settled for a runnerup finish with a 25-under 839 total.

   Duke also had the individual champion as Ethan Evans, a junior from Mercer Island, Wash. and No. 63 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), edged a trio of pursuers by a shot to take the title with a 9-under 207 total. Evans opened with a 5-under 67 and added a 3-under 69 in the second round before closing with a 1-under 71.

   Alabama opened with a 6-over 294 and added a 1-over 289 in the second round before struggling in the final round with a 10-over 298.

   Leading the way for the Crimson Tide were Jonathan Griz, a junior from Hilton Head, S.C. and No. 97 in the WAGR, and Dominic Clemons, a junior from England and No. 74 in the WAGR, both of whom landed in the group tied for 42^nd place at 4-over 220.

   Griz, probably Alabama’s most consistent performer during its fall campaign, added a 3-over 75 in the second round to his opening-round 73 before matching par in the final round with a 72.

   Clemons, coming off a runnerup finish in the Royal & Ancient’s Amateur Championship at Ballyliffin Golf Club in County Donegal, Ireland in July, claimed the individual title to open his season in the Fields of Honor. Collegiate. At the Golf Club of Georgia, Clemons matched par in the opening round with a 72 and added a 3-under 69 in the second round before struggling with a 79 in the final round.

   It was a decent finish to the fall campaign for Gross as he opened with a 1-over 73 and added a 1-under 71 in the second round before struggling a little in the final round with a 77 to end up among the group tied for 49^th place with a 5-over 221 total.

   The trio that finished a shot behind Evans in a tie for second place at 8-under 208 included the Virginia pair of sophomore Josh Duangmanee and junior Bryan Lee, No. 18 in the WAGR, both of whom hail from Fairfax, Va., and Charlotte’s Caden Baker, a senior from Mebane, N.C.

   After opening with a 4-under 68, Duangmanee rattled off a pair of 2-under 70s. His teammate Lee opened with a 2-under 70 and stumbled a little in the second round with a 3-over 75 before closing with a solid 3-under 69.

   Duangmanee and Lee were both in the lineup when the Cavaliers earned a spot in the match-play bracket in last spring’s NCAA Championship at La Costa, Virginia falling to eventual national champion Auburn in the quarterfinals.

   Baker took a three-shot lead over Evans going into the final round after he added a 5-under 67 in the second round to the sizzling 6-under 66 he recorded in the opening round. But Baker backed off a little in the final round with a 3-over 75.

   Alabama finished in a tie for eighth place with ACC power Georgia Tech in another tough 15-team field in the Ben Hogan Collegiate, which wrapped up Oct. 1^st at the iconic Colonial Country Club – Hogan’s Alley – in Fort Worth, Texas.

   The Crimson Tide got a little better each round as they opened with a 10-over 290 over the 7,289-yard, par-70 Colonial layout and added an 8-over 288 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 5-over 285 for a 23-over 863 total.

   Oklahoma and Texas, the ancient rivals who bolted the Big 12 in tandem for the SEC, finished 1-2, respectively, in the team race with the Sooners taking the title with a 10-under 830 total, four shots better than the Longhorns.

   Oklahoma was solid throughout, opening with a 4-under 276 and adding a 5-under 275 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 1-under 279.

   Texas matched par in the opening round with a 280, creeped within two shots of the Sooners with a 7-under 273, the best team round of the tournament, in the afternoon of the opening-day double round and closed with a 1-over 281 to end up with a 6-under 834 total.

   The individual title went to North Carolina’s David Ford, a senior from Peachtree Corners, Ga. and No. 6 in the WAGR, as he added a sizzling 5-under 65 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round to his opening-round 69 before closing with a 3-under 67 for a 9-under 201 total.

   Auburn’s Brendan Valdes, a senior from Orlando, Fla. and No. 10 in the WAGR, also had three rounds in the 60s to earn runnerup honors with a 6-under 204 total. After opening with a 1-under 69, Valdes creeped within a shot of Ford with a 4-under 66 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with another 69.

   Griz led the way for Alabama as he finished among the group tied for 19^th place with a 3-over 213 total. After opening with a 4-over 74, Griz matched par in the afternoon of the opening-day double round with a 70 before closing with a solid 1-under 69.

   Jack Mitchell, a sophomore from Athens, Ala., backed up Griz for the Crimson Tide as he finished in the group tied for 35^th place with a 7-over 217 total. After opening with a 5-over 75, Mitchell matched par with a 70 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before finishing up with a 72.

   Gross had a decent showing at Colonial as he opened with a 1-over 71 and added a 75 in the afternoon of the opening-day double round before closing with a 2-over 72 as he finished in the group tied for 40^th place with an 8-over 218 total.

   Gross wasn’t the only PIAA champion in the field as Auburn redshirt senior Carson Bacha, the winner of the Class AAA state crown in 2019 as a senior at Central York and No. 39 in the WAGR, finished among the group tied for 55^th place with an 11-over 221 total.

   Bacha added a 2-over 72 in the afternoon of the opening-round double round after opening with a 73 before struggling a little in the final round with a 76.

   On its way to Colonial and in the aftermath of its victory in the Fields of Honor Collegiate, Alabama was tested by another of America’s classic golf courses, Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago, the site of the U.S. Open in 1928 and 2003 and the PGA Championship in 1925 and 1961, in the Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational, hosted by Big Ten power Illinois.

   Alabama finished in 12^th place in the 15-team field with a 16-over 856 total over the 7,310-yard, par-70 Olympia Fields layout. Again, it was a tough field with 14 of the 15 teams having received bids to the NCAA regionals last spring.

   After opening with a 291, the Crimson Tide added a 6-over 286 in the second round before getting it in red figures in the final round with a 1-under 279. The OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational wrapped up Sept. 22^nd.

   It was a two-horse race for the team crown with ACC power Georgia Tech edging Arizona State, one of the Pac-12 refugees that landed in the Big 12, by a shot.

   The Yellow Jackets trailed Arizona State by eight shots going into the final round, but they surged past the Sun Devils with an 8-under 272 that left them with a 12-under 828 total.

   The original schedule for the event was altered by the threat of stormy weather Sept. 22^nd. The three-day event was squeezed almost into two days with the final round nearly completed Sept. 21^st following the completion of the second round.

   Only one group had to complete play and while Arizona State’s Jose Luis Ballester, a senior from Spain and No. 5 in the WAGR, finished off a two-shot victory over Georgia Tech’s Benjamin Reuter, a redshirt junior from The Netherlands and No. 66 in the WAGR, in the individual chase, it was Reuter and the Yellow Jackets who held on for the team crown.

   Georgia Tech had opened with a 1-under 279 and added a 3-under 277 in the second round to keep Arizona State in its sights.

   The Sun Devils opened with a 7-under 273 and added a 276 in the second round, but couldn’t hold the lead as they matched par in the final round with a 280 that left them a shot behind Georgia Tech with an 11-under 829 total.

   Ballester, a month removed from his U.S. Amateur victory at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn., torched the venerable Olympia Fields layout with a 6-under 64 in the opening round and added a 66 in the second round before finally finishing up an even-par 70 in the rain in the early hours of Sept. 22^nd for a 10-under 200 total.

   Reuter matched Ballester’s opening-round 64, but fell four shots behind the Spaniard when he matched par in the second round with a 70. Reuter closed with a solid 2-under 68 to earn runnerup honors in the individual chase with an 8-under 202 total.

   Seawell sent out the same lineup that had won the Fields of Honor Collegiate, a starting five that he stuck with for the remaining two tournaments on the Crimson Tide’s fall schedule.

   Griz led the way for Alabama as he finished in the group tied for 17^th place with an even-par 210 total. After opening with a 2-over 72, Griz registered back-to-back 1-under 69s in the final two rounds.

   Clemons and Jones Free, a senior from Selma, Ala., both landed in the group tied for 37^th place at 5-over 215.

   Clemons matched par in the second round with a 70 after opening with a 2-over 72 before closing with a 3-over 73. Free opened with a 3-over 73 and added a 75 in the second round before finishing strong with a sparkling 3-under 67.

   Mitchell finished in the group tied for 55^th place at 9-over 219 as he added a 2-over 72 in the second round to his opening-round 74 before closing with a 73.

   After opening with a 5-over 75, Gross was unable to turn in a card in the second round. He matched par in the final round with a counting 70.

   It was certainly an eventful first fall of college golf for Gross. It will be interesting to see how he holds up as Alabama heads toward the SEC Championship and likely beyond in the spring.