PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – The No. 18 Alabama men’s golf team finished in third overall at The Hayt, closing the three day 54-hole tournament with a team score of 6-under par 858 (279-275-304). It is the second top three team finish for the Crimson Tide in as many tournaments this spring. 

Two golfers finished inside the top 10 individuals to lead UA, as Jonathan Griz tied for fourth overall at 5-under 211 (67-68-76) and Jones Free tied for sixth at 4-under 212 (73-66-73). Additionally, Dominic Clemons also finished inside the top 20 in 18^th position at 1-over 217 (69-72-76).

The tournament was played on the par 72, 6,966-yard TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course. 

“Today we played in very difficult conditions with winds blowing 30 miles per hour and to be honest we didn’t handle it well. It affected us and that’s exactly what we have to learn to overcome for us to take that next step. We are going to work on that, but we have to take ownership in what we didn’t do well, and I know we will. I am proud that we have put ourselves in a position to win in each of the first two tournaments. This tournament we played really well the first two rounds and were leading going into today but just couldn’t finish it. We have a very good team at the end of the day, and we know we have to put in the work so we can get better and take that next step.”

Individual Highlights

• Jonathan Griz and Jones Free each picked up their second top 10 finish in as many tournaments this spring (both finished in a tie for runner up at the Watersound Invitational)
• Free led all players in the field in par 3 scoring (-3, 2.75) while Griz topped the field in par 4 holes (-5, 3.83) and total birdies (15)
• Free recorded the Tide’s best 18-hole score of the tournament with his 6-under par 66 in Sunday’s second round
• Griz also had two rounds in the 60s to give him a team-leading nine rounds in the 60s this season
• Nick Gross closed play in 51^st overall with a 7-over 223 (75-69-79) while Connor Brown ended with a 10-over 226 (70-76-80)
• Jack Mitchell competed as an individual and tied for 42^nd overall with a score of 5-over par 221(71-70-80)

Team Highlights

• The 15-team field featured 10 teams ranked inside the most recent Scoreboard national rankings
• No. 4 Texas (-18) secured the team title by seven strokes over No. 28 Duke (-11)
• No. 18 Alabama (-6) finished five shots ahead of No. 8 North Carolina (-1) and six better than No. 9 Virginia (E)

Up Next

• Alabama returns to action next week when it competes at the Linger Longer Invitational – a tournament the Tide has one in each of the last two seasons
• This year’s tournament will take place March 16-18 at Great Waters Country Club in Greensboro, Ga.