BRYAN, Texas – The No. 8 Alabama men’s golf team finished fifth at the 2018 Aggie Invitational with a team total of 19-over par 883 (289-299-295). The Crimson Tide held the 36-hole lead in a stacked field that featured six teams ranked among the top-10 in the nation, but was unable to hold on over Sunday’s final 18 holes.
“We did a lot of good things this week,” Alabama head coach Jay Seawell said. “I’m really proud of what we did (on Saturday) under some pretty adverse conditions. We put ourselves in position to win, but we just didn’t execute well today. You have to tip your cap to Oklahoma State – they played great and have been playing great all spring.”
“We have to learn to play better in that situation and we will. The only way you can learn from it is be in middle of it so I was proud of us being in that position. Our guys learned a lesson that unfortunately doesn’t feel all that good at the moment, but we’ll be back. We need to shake it off and learn from it and get ready to compete again this weekend at Vanderbilt.”
Senior Lee Hodges, who entered the event ranked No. 22 in the nation, led the way for the Crimson Tide with a seventh-place finish, marking his fifth top-10 result of the season and third in UA’s last four events. Hodges, who finished with the second-best average in the field on par 4s throughout the 54-hole tournament (4.00), closed play with an even par 216 (75-71-70).
Senior Jonathan Hardee (73-74-76) and junior Davis Riley (71-77-75) tied for 19th overall at 7-over par 223 on the par 72, 7,088-yard Traditions Club layout. Freshman Davis Shore tied for 26th at 8-over par 224 (73-78-73), while freshman Wilson Furr rounded out the Tide in 42nd place with a 229 (72-79-78).
Alabama will have a quick turnaround as it prepares for its final regular season tournament when it travels to Nashville, Tenn., to compete at the Mason Rudolph Championship, hosted by Vanderbilt University, on April 13-15.
