Alabama Men's Golf hopes Pebble Beach Visit will Help Launch Strong Spring Swing

Crimson Tide still trying to find its way after rough end to last season

It didn’t go as expected.

This time a year ago the Alabama men’s golf team was coming off an appearance in the match-play finals of the NCAA National Championships, was ranked No. 3 in the nation and appeared poised to make a run at another title.

Or so Crimson Tide coach Jay Seawell thought.

He couldn’t have foreseen being so shorthanded in the spring that everyone on the roster was forced to play so Alabama could just field a complete team.

Hindered by an early departure for the pros and a season-ending injury, the Crimson Tide fell out of the top 25 in the rankings, and finished 11 at the 2019 NCAA Athens Regional. It was just the second time in the last nine years that Alabama failed to advance and reach the NCAA National Championships.

“It threw all of us into a spin that none of us had been through before,” Seawell said. “We learned a tremendous amount about ourselves and what we can do better next time.”

Alabama is getting ready to head to prestigious Pebble Beach, where it will wrap up the fall schedule at the Cypress Point Classic on Monday and Tuesday. A good showing could do a lot toward putting last spring in the rearview mirror.

Seawell, who is in his 18 year as Alabama’s head coach and led the Crimson Tide to back-to-back national championships in 2013 and 2014, has called it everything from a kick in the gut to a storm that just wasn’t navigated well enough.

He doesn’t talk about that in regards to his players so much, but rather himself.

“Alabama golf has a standard, and we have to get back to that standard, of how we do things,” he said. “We can’t tolerate not being [successful] no matter what those things are. We have to get back to the standard, and I think it’s important as the coach, and as the leader, communicate that to our guys. The things that we learned from the spring — there were some things that we could not control. But there were things that we could have done a better job of controlling.

Frustration took its toll on Jay Seawell and the Crimson Tide at the end of last season. 

Alabama Athletics

“Those are things that we’re going to look at when I say the standard, and what do you tolerate. And because we unraveled with a little bit of our team, and the lack of depth with really only having five guys who could really play, there were some things that we tolerated. We’re going to have to find a way to get back to practicing what we preach, of what we believe and re-establishing that standard. I think we will. I think our guys are eager to do that.”

One thing the spring collapse did was provide a head start in establishing Wilson Furr as the Crimson Tide’s leader for this season.

As a sophomore last year, he was the only Alabama golfer who competed in all 12 of the Crimson Tide’s tournaments. He led the team with a 72.35 per round stroke average and an average vs. par of +1.06, while also topping it in top-10 finishes (three) and rounds of par or lower (16).

Over the summer the former Mississippi state amateur champion earned one of the two automatic spots for the 2019 U.S. Amateur Championship, and made his third appearance in the prestigious tournament.

“I believe in ownership, in players owning the team,” Seawell said about his expectations despite the lack of any seniors on the 2019-20 roster.

Last season, Furr topped the Crimson Tide with six top-20 finishes while his three top-10 scores tied for the team lead along with Frankie Capan III. As a freshman, Capan posted Alabama’s best score at the NCAA Athens Regional, finishing with a 1-over 214 (72-73-69) to place 10.

Davis Shore has returned to the Alabama lineup after suffering a season-ending injury last year,

Alabama Athletics

Another freshman (who is now a sophomore), Prescott Butler competed in 11 tournaments and averaged 73.71 strokes per round and 2.29 average vs. par, both of which ranked fourth on the team.

Both are back, along with junior Davis Shore, who suffered a torn labrum at the Querencia Cabo Collegiate in Mexico in February, requiring surgery. At the time, he had been tied for the team lead in stroke average and average vs. par, but instead the Crimson Tide had to play a man down during the final two rounds.

Shore’s first tournament back with the Crimson Tide was the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational in September. He carded three straight rounds of 1-over-par 71 to lead the Crimson Tide and finish 14 overall.

Meanwhile, Alabama landed one of the nation’s top recruiting classes by signing thee of the best prospects in the Southeast: Tyler Lipscomb (Carrolton, Ga.), Thomas Ponder (Dothan, Ala.) and Simms Abney (Madison, Miss.).

The former two, Lipscomb and Ponder, qualified for the 72 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, with Ponder making the cut. Meanwhile, Abney was the runner-up at the 68 Cotton States Amateur in Louisiana.

To give an idea of their potential:

Abney was ranked as the nation’s No. 9 prospect in nation according to the Junior Golf Scoreboard and No. 17 according to Golfweek.com. He led Jackson Prep to five state championships, including four consecutive (2014, 2016-19) and a runner-up finish in 2015.

“Great student of the game,” Seawell said.

Ponder was ranked as the No. 19 prospect in nation according to Golfweek.com. One of five golfers in state history to be a three-time AHSAA individual state champion, he’s been coming to Alabama’s golf camps since he was 10 years old.

“He is an incredible competitor who does not back down under pressure,” Seawell said.

Lipscomb, who once shot a tournament 59 during the Callaway Gardens Pro/Junior Championship, was named a 2018 Rolex Junior All-American. The 6-foot-3 talent with a lot of speed in his swing earned back-to-back Georgia state individual champion, winning the AA classification as a freshman and AAA his sophomore season.

“I can tell you immediately that somebody is going play,” Seawell said in regards to how he plans to use the freshmen in the team lineup. “Which one? I don’t know. Which one handles the transition, being away from home, all the things that we ask them, all the things at school.

“What I like about them is I think they’re blue-collar kids. They’re going to want to get their hands in the dirt. They’re not going to have any excuses. They’re not coming in with a resume and a mindset of ‘Oh I used to be …” They’re very good players who have accomplished a lot, but their best golf is still in front of them.

“I think it’s really going to be a breath of fresh air for all of us.”