GREENSBORO, Ga. – The No. 18 Alabama men’s golf team finished runner up at the Linger Longer Invitational, closing the three day, 54-hole tournament with a team score of 28-under 836 (277-284-275). It was a season-low mark for the Crimson Tide, which collected its second runner-up finish in three tournaments this spring. 

Connor Brown led UA with a runner-up finish, closing the three-day, 54-hole tournament at 9-under par 207 (68-72-67). Jones Free third consecutive top 10 finish of the spring, as he tied for ninth overall with a 4-under 212 (68-76-68).

Jay Seawell Comments

“I thought this was another good tournament for us and our guys played well the whole week. There were only two teams in the entire 16-team field to shoot under par in all three rounds and we were one of them. You have to give Georgia credit today. They were really good coming down the stretch and just made more birdies than we did. We finished a couple shots short but I am pleased with how much progress I’ve seen over the last few weeks. The guys have learned so much and we’re getting better. We just need to continue to keep making progress and work hard over these next couple of weeks before the Maridoe Collegiate.”

Individual Highlights

• Connor Brown finished with career-best numbers in each category in the event, with his previous career-best finish coming when he tied for 59^th overall at the Watersound Invitational
• Brown tied for the overall lead in the field in total birdies (17), which included a team-leading seven on Tuesday, and finished second in par 4 scoring (3.83, -5)
• Jones Free did not finish inside the top 10 in the Crimson Tide’s four tournaments last fall, but has done so in each of the first three tournaments in the spring
• Free added two rounds in the 60s to give him six such rounds this season and nine rounds par or better
• Jonathan Griz collected his team-leading sixth top 20^th finish of the season as he placed 12^th overall with a 3-under par 213 (72-72-69)
• Griz recorded all three rounds of par or better to give him a team-highs of 15 rounds of par or better and nine rounds in the 60s 
• Dominic Clemons earned his third top-20 finish of the year as he tied for 16^th overall at 2-under par 214 (70-74-70)
• Nick Gross, who carded his best round in a Crimson Tide uniform when he shot a 6-under 66 in round two, tied for 28^thoverall at even par 216 (73-66-77)
• Both Luke Coyle and Jack Mitchell are competing as individuals in the field
• Mitchell tied for 55^th at 8-over 224 (75-78-71), while Coyle finished a few spots back in 60^th place with a 10-over par 226 (74-78-76) 

Team Highlights

• Alabama narrowly missed capturing a team title for the third consecutive year at the Linger Longer, as No. 37 Georgia (-30) carded a final round of 20-under par to win the championship by two shots over No. 18 Alabama (-28)
• The Crimson Tide had won the previous two Linger Longer Invitationals, sweeping both the team and individual titles in 2023 and 2024
• No. 35 USF (-21) finished in third followed by No. 17 South Carolina (-12) and Elon (-8) who rounded out the top five teams
• UA led all teams in the field in total birdies (65) and par 5 scoring (4.63, -22)

Up Next

• Alabama will return to action March 31-April 1 when it competes at the Maridoe Collegiate, hosted by North Texas
• The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at the Maridoe Golf Club in Carrollton, Texas