Alabama Men's Golf Misses The Cut At NCAAs
Jonathan Hardee Advances As Individual
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
SUGAR GROVE, Illinois - The run for a national championship for the University of Alabama men's golf team has ended. The Crimson Tide finished play at the 2017 NCAA Men's Golf National Championships in 17th place, with a three day total of 9-over par 873 (287-293-293), just two strokes short of a top-15 finish and being able to play in the final round of stroke play.
Despite the loss for UA, junior Jonathan Hardee managed to card a third round score of 5-under par 67 on Sunday to advance as an individual in the competition. He had five birdies with no bogeys in the third round to improve 33 spots into a 17th-place tie with a three-day total of 5-under par 211 (69-75-67). This puts the Greer, South Carolina native into contention for medalist honors, and now advances to the final round of stroke play today.
Alabama head men's golf coach Jay Seawell said, "I think it proves that you have to get into that top-15 going into [Sunday]. That's why (Saturday's round) was so tough because I felt like we gave it away at the end. It forced us to play in the afternoon today when the winds are always greater, which always makes it harder. It's a lesson learned. We fought all the way, just unfortunately we didn't do the things we needed to do at crucial times and today was one of those days.
"I am really proud of Jonathan and the way he played today. He earned a spot in the fourth round. To shoot a 67 in these winds and conditions is something to be proud of. I am looking forward to watching him play tomorrow."
Matching his career-best 18-hole total yesterday, Hardee was one of only two golfers in the field to go the entire round without a bogey, joining Vanderbilt's Matthias Schwab. Hardee recorded three birdies on the front nine and two on the back nine to go along with 13 pars to end the day with the Tide's lowest 18-hole total of the event.
Concerning the effort, Hardee commented, "It was definitely disappointing as a team to miss the cut, but I am still really proud of the guys on this team and the way we handled things throughout the entire year. It was tough year and the way we overcame a lot of adversity, which was awesome to see. I went into today with the mindset of battling to help our team pull through. I am excited to continue playing tomorrow and was very pleased with how I played today. I am looking forward to getting to compete another day."
Fellow Southeastern Conference team and fourth-ranked Vanderbilt (846) leads this year's championship by one stroke over No. 1 USC, No. 16 UNLV and No. 17 Oklahoma, who are each tied for second with an 847. Illinois (850) is fifth.
Hardee will tee off the fourth round of play at 1:40 p.m. CT off Hole No. 1.
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Crimson Tide Women's Tennis Advances Two
Routliffe & Pothoff To Play In National Championship Match
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Routliffe said, "We played them earlier in the season and we knew they were a really good team. Being a senior and facing them at least four times, I knew how good they were. I told Maddie (Pothoff) before the match to just focus on our strengths and play as aggressive as we could. I think we did that from the very beginning and we played well overall."
Alabama's dynamic duo will will now face Ohio State's No. 18-ranked doubles team of Francesca Di Lorenzo and Miho Kowase in the national championship today set for Noon CT.
The Crimson Tide has been represented in the NCAA individual tournament each of the last eight years and in both the singles and doubles tournament in the same season seven times.
Routliffe captured the NCAA Doubles Championships as well as being named part of the ITA Doubles Team of the year in 2014 and 2015.
