EATONTON, Ga. – For the second time this season, the Alabama men’s golf team has swept a team and individual tournament title. The No. 20 Crimson Tide carded a score of 14-under par 850 (283-287-280) to win the 2023 Linger Longer Invitational while freshman Nick Dunlap secured the individual medalist honor with a 10-under par 206 (70-66-70).
It marks the sixth time that the Crimson Tide has won the Linger Longer which is tied for the most in tournament history by any single team (previous wins include 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018). Additionally, this year’s team becomes the 18th UA squad in program history to win at least two tournaments in the same season (claimed the season-opening Rod Myers Invitational).
Meanwhile, Dunlap, who joins Canon Claycomb (Rod Myers Invitational) as individual winners this season, becomes the first Alabama freshman to win medalist honors since Robby Shelton did so in 2013-14. It is also the first time since 2018 that the Crimson Tide has had multiple individual tournament champions in the same year.
Including Dunlap, the Tide boasted three individuals that finished inside the top 10 as both JP Cave (-3) and Thomas Ponder (-1) finished inside tied for sixth and eighth, respectively.
“I am really proud of our guys, especially coming off a bad finish in our last tournament (Cabo Collegiate). We met as a team after that tournament and discussed how we felt that was not our identity. We are a good team and we reiterated that to them. We went out and had some good practices leading up to the Linger Longer, which was important. I couldn’t be prouder of how the boys responded. Anytime you are coming off a poor tournament, you want to have the type of team that responds. That is exactly what we did.
“I thought Nick played incredible all week. You could see this coming. He’s healthy, his confidence continues to grow and you could tell he was getting his mojo back.”
“It’s a great feeling. Coming off our performance at Cabo we viewed this tournament as a bounce back. It feels good to win my first tournament, but to do it and help the team to a victory makes it even more sweet. It was a great team win today.”
Tournament Highlights
- Nick Dunlap became the fourth Alabama golfer to win medalist honors at the Linger Longer, joining Bud Cauley (2010), Cory Whitsett (2011, 2012, 2013) and Lee Hodges (2018)
- Dunlap would go…
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