Alabama Crimson Tide golf
Encyclopedia
The Alabama Crimson Tide golf teams represents the University of Alabama
located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
, and competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association
(NCAA) Division I and the Southeastern Conference
(SEC). The Crimson Tide currently has two of the best teams in the country with the men and women ranked #3, by Golfweek.
also won the Individual Championship in 2008. The Crimson Tide has won two SEC Tournament Championships (1979 & 2008); appeared in 20 NCAA Tournaments
and advanced to the finals 12 times; and have had 13 players garner 21 All-America
honors.
Jay Seawell, the 2008 SEC Coach of the Year, arrived in 2002 and has steadily taken the Tide to its greatest height in the programs history. Entering his ninth year at the Capstone, Seawell has established Alabama as one of the elite programs in collegiate golf. The Tide has been routinely ranked in the top 10 in the country while leading Alabama to 8 NCAA Tournaments
appearances and four berths in the NCAA Championships. Under Seawell’s guidance in 2008, Alabama captured its first SEC Championship since 1979 and its first SEC medalist – Michael Thompson
– since Bobby Hill in 1952. Over the past eight years, the Crimson Tide has garnered seven All-America
honors by five players, had eight All-Region selections by seven players and 15 All-SEC honors, including 9 first-team choices. Bud Cauley
, an All-American his three years at Alabama (2009–2011), was named the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2009 and was a finalist for the Ben Hogan
Award. Thompson was also a finalist in 2008. Following the 2011 regular season Cory Whitsett was named SEC Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-SEC.
Alabama currently has 4 of the top collegiate golfers in the nation, and is consistently ranked in the top 5 as a team.
just once in the program’s history before his arrival. Alabama had its best year ever in 2010, winning the SEC Women’s Golf Championship and posting a school-best third-place finish at the NCAA Championships. In 2011, the Crimson Tide won its first NCAA Regional title in school history, and qualified for the 2011 NCAA Golf Championship at the Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas
, where they finished tied for 8th.
Following the conclusion of the 2011 season Alabama ranked as the #3 team in the nation, and had 4 players ranked in the top 55 of collegiate women golfers.
, who has competed in the Walker Cup
, garnered All-America honors, captured the U.S. Amateur, won the U.S. Open
, was named PGA Rookie of the Year, and went on to enjoy a successful career on the PGA Tour
and the Champions Tour
. Pate also designed Alabama's current home course, Ol' Colony
. Other players that played with the Tide include Bud Cauley
, Steve Lowery
, Spike McRoy
, Jason Bohn
, Dicky Pride
, David Kirkpatrick, Mårten Olander
, and, current PGA Tour rookie, Michael Thompson
. Olander captured the 1993 Ben Hogan
Award. Besides Jerry Pate, the only other Alabama Crimson Tide golfer thought to earn first team All-America honors is David Kirkpatrick.
, and Judi Schneider Pavone are the only former players to play full-time on the LPGA Tour. The Tide has had a little more success on the LPGA developmental Futures Tour
, with 10 all-time members and 2 active.
. The course, which opened in 2000, was designed by former Crimson Tide golfer Jerry Pate
. The course is a 7,041-yard par 72, and includes the state-of-the-art Jerry Pate Practice Center dedicated to the Crimson Tide golf teams.
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
, and competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA) Division I and the Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
(SEC). The Crimson Tide currently has two of the best teams in the country with the men and women ranked #3, by Golfweek.
Men
The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s golf program has a rich history that dates back to the program’s inception in 1952. That first season saw Crimson Tide golfer Bobby Hill capture the SEC Individual Championship. Michael ThompsonMichael Thompson (golfer)
Michael H. Thompson is an American professional golfer who is currently on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Thompson attended University High School in Tucson, Arizona from 1999 to 2003. While there he won the Class 4A state team championship in 2003, and was named the Arizona High School State Player...
also won the Individual Championship in 2008. The Crimson Tide has won two SEC Tournament Championships (1979 & 2008); appeared in 20 NCAA Tournaments
NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships
The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, played in late May or early June, is the top annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. It is a stroke play team competition, starting in 2009 the competition changed to a stroke play/match play competition with the top 8 teams after 54 holes of...
and advanced to the finals 12 times; and have had 13 players garner 21 All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
honors.
Jay Seawell, the 2008 SEC Coach of the Year, arrived in 2002 and has steadily taken the Tide to its greatest height in the programs history. Entering his ninth year at the Capstone, Seawell has established Alabama as one of the elite programs in collegiate golf. The Tide has been routinely ranked in the top 10 in the country while leading Alabama to 8 NCAA Tournaments
NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships
The NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships, played in late May or early June, is the top annual competition in U.S. men's collegiate golf. It is a stroke play team competition, starting in 2009 the competition changed to a stroke play/match play competition with the top 8 teams after 54 holes of...
appearances and four berths in the NCAA Championships. Under Seawell’s guidance in 2008, Alabama captured its first SEC Championship since 1979 and its first SEC medalist – Michael Thompson
Michael Thompson (golfer)
Michael H. Thompson is an American professional golfer who is currently on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Thompson attended University High School in Tucson, Arizona from 1999 to 2003. While there he won the Class 4A state team championship in 2003, and was named the Arizona High School State Player...
– since Bobby Hill in 1952. Over the past eight years, the Crimson Tide has garnered seven All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
honors by five players, had eight All-Region selections by seven players and 15 All-SEC honors, including 9 first-team choices. Bud Cauley
Bud Cauley
William "Bud" Cauley is an American professional golfer.-Amateur career:Cauley was born in Jacksonville, Florida were he was home schooled by his parents. He was ranked top-five nationally in junior golf and among top 15 in the world. As a junior golfer, Cauley was a member of the 2006 Junior...
, an All-American his three years at Alabama (2009–2011), was named the SEC Freshman of the Year in 2009 and was a finalist for the Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan
William Ben Hogan was an American golfer, generally considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game...
Award. Thompson was also a finalist in 2008. Following the 2011 regular season Cory Whitsett was named SEC Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-SEC.
Alabama currently has 4 of the top collegiate golfers in the nation, and is consistently ranked in the top 5 as a team.
Women
Alabama first had a women's golf team in 1974, but has reached heights of success over the past five years never seen in the program’s history. Since his arrival in 2006, Mic Potter has built Alabama into a national contender. The Tide has advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of Potter’s five seasons after the Tide had qualified for the NCAA Women's Golf ChampionshipNCAA Women's Golf Championship
NCAA Champions for women's golf:-Division I:-Division II-III combined:-Division II:-Division III:-Team:The following schools have won more than one team championship:*15: Methodist*7: Arizona State*5: Duke, Rollins*4: Florida Southern...
just once in the program’s history before his arrival. Alabama had its best year ever in 2010, winning the SEC Women’s Golf Championship and posting a school-best third-place finish at the NCAA Championships. In 2011, the Crimson Tide won its first NCAA Regional title in school history, and qualified for the 2011 NCAA Golf Championship at the Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas
Bryan, Texas
Bryan is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 76,201. It is the county seat of Brazos County and is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley . It shares its border with the city of College Station, which lies to its south...
, where they finished tied for 8th.
Following the conclusion of the 2011 season Alabama ranked as the #3 team in the nation, and had 4 players ranked in the top 55 of collegiate women golfers.
Men
The Crimson Tide has had numerous great players that have come through the program over the years. One of the best known is Jerry PateJerry Pate
Jerome Kendrick "Jerry" Pate is an American golfer.Jerry Pate was born in Macon, Georgia. He attended the University of Alabama, where he played on the golf team. Pate had a distinguished amateur career. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1974, and the following year he was a member of victorious U.S....
, who has competed in the Walker Cup
Walker Cup
The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested biennially in odd numbered years between teams comprising the leading amateur golfers of the United States and Great Britain and Ireland...
, garnered All-America honors, captured the U.S. Amateur, won the U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
, was named PGA Rookie of the Year, and went on to enjoy a successful career on the PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
and the Champions Tour
Champions Tour
The Champions Tour, a golf tour run by the PGA Tour, hosts a series of events annually in the United States and the United Kingdom for golfers 50 years of age and older. Many of the PGA Tour's most successful golfers have gone on to play on the Champions Tour.The Senior PGA Championship, founded in...
. Pate also designed Alabama's current home course, Ol' Colony
Ol' Colony Golf Complex
Ol' Colony Golf Complex is a municipal public golf course in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The course opened in December 2000 on 597 acres that was once a farm plantation for a mental institution named Boy's Colony...
. Other players that played with the Tide include Bud Cauley
Bud Cauley
William "Bud" Cauley is an American professional golfer.-Amateur career:Cauley was born in Jacksonville, Florida were he was home schooled by his parents. He was ranked top-five nationally in junior golf and among top 15 in the world. As a junior golfer, Cauley was a member of the 2006 Junior...
, Steve Lowery
Steve Lowery
Stephen Brent Lowery is an American professional golfer.Lowery was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He has PGA Tour victories in 1994, 2000 and 2008. All three of his victories on the PGA Tour have come in playoffs....
, Spike McRoy
Spike McRoy
Robert Lynn "Spike" McRoy, Jr. is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour.-Early years and education:...
, Jason Bohn
Jason Bohn
Jason Duehn Bohn is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour.Bohn was born in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1995 with a degree in Finance. In 1992, while a sophomore on the Alabama golf team, Bohn was playing in a charity...
, Dicky Pride
Dicky Pride
Richard Fletcher "Dicky" Pride III is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour....
, David Kirkpatrick, Mårten Olander
Mårten Olander
Mårten Olander is a Swedish professional golfer.Olander attended the University of Alabama for four years, and was awarded the Ben Hogan Trophy for the best student golfer nationwide in 1993. He turned professional in 1995, and joined the Challenge Tour in 1996, winning promotion to the European...
, and, current PGA Tour rookie, Michael Thompson
Michael Thompson (golfer)
Michael H. Thompson is an American professional golfer who is currently on the PGA Tour.-Amateur career:Thompson attended University High School in Tucson, Arizona from 1999 to 2003. While there he won the Class 4A state team championship in 2003, and was named the Arizona High School State Player...
. Olander captured the 1993 Ben Hogan
Ben Hogan
William Ben Hogan was an American golfer, generally considered one of the greatest players in the history of the game...
Award. Besides Jerry Pate, the only other Alabama Crimson Tide golfer thought to earn first team All-America honors is David Kirkpatrick.
Women
The Crimson Tide has had minimal success on the LPGA Tour. Peggy Kirsch, Leslie SpaldingLeslie Spalding
Leslie Spalding is an American professional golfer and golf coach, who played on the LPGA Tour from 1995 to 2005.-Early career:...
, and Judi Schneider Pavone are the only former players to play full-time on the LPGA Tour. The Tide has had a little more success on the LPGA developmental Futures Tour
FUTURES Tour
The LPGA Futures Tour, previously styled in uppercase as FUTURES Tour and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed FUTURES Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour...
, with 10 all-time members and 2 active.
Ol' Colony Golf Complex
The Crimson Tide golf teams home course is Ol' Colony, located in Tuscaloosa, AlabamaTuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
. The course, which opened in 2000, was designed by former Crimson Tide golfer Jerry Pate
Jerry Pate
Jerome Kendrick "Jerry" Pate is an American golfer.Jerry Pate was born in Macon, Georgia. He attended the University of Alabama, where he played on the golf team. Pate had a distinguished amateur career. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1974, and the following year he was a member of victorious U.S....
. The course is a 7,041-yard par 72, and includes the state-of-the-art Jerry Pate Practice Center dedicated to the Crimson Tide golf teams.