re: Alabama Golf Teams (2023-24j

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The No. 9 Alabama men's golf team finished in third overall – a seven-spot improvement from Friday's opening round – at the Mason Rudolph Championship, which was completed Sunday on the par 71, 7,112-yard Vanderbilt Legends South Course. The Crimson Tide finished the event with a team score of even par 852 (292-279-281) on the way to a third-place finish, the team's fifth top-three tournament result in nine events on the season.

Three UA golfers ended the event inside the top 20, led by Thomas Ponder's fifth-place result with three consecutive sub-par rounds to finish at 4-under par 209 (70-69-70). Both Jones Free and Canon Claycomb finished tied for 19th, with Claycomb's round of 3-under par 68 on Sunday leading the way.

The event was the Tide's final regular season tournament and the final regular season event for three senior golfers JP Cave, Claycomb and Ponder. The trio have combined for nearly 120 career tournaments and 350 total rounds played wearing the Crimson and White.

Head Coach Jay Seawell Comments
"This was the last regular season event. We set our schedule to test us for the postseason and now we are here. When you're playing on the golf course of one of the top teams in the country in Vanderbilt, you have to be really sharp. We didn't get off to a great start, but I am proud of how we bounced back from that to finish third. I feel like this week taught us a lesson we needed to learn and now we are off to postseason play.

"I am also very proud of my old guys – JP, Canon and Pondy – because that was their last regular season event. I appreciate all they've done and brought to Alabama golf throughout their careers. It was a bit of emotional moment when I got to hug their necks on the 18th green, but these guys are also built for the postseason, so we are a looking forward to that."

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