Alabama in Tie for First After 36 Holes of SEC Men’s Golf Championships

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The Alabama men’s golf team is in a tie for first overall at 12-under par 578 (270-278) after two rounds of play at the 2023 SEC Men’s Golf Championships. The Crimson Tide will enter Friday’s final round of stroke play even with Texas A&M (-12) and in comfortable position to make the match play portion of the championship, which begins Saturday.

Canon Claycomb and Thomas Ponder rank in second and third overall to lead Alabama at the event. Claycomb finished Thursday’s second round with a 4-under 66 which followed his opening round of 3-under 67. He is just one stroke back of clubhouse leader Caleb Surratt of Tennessee (-8) with a two-day score of 7-under par 133.

Meanwhile, after carding a 6-under 64 in the opening round and holding a share of the overall lead after the opening round, Ponder carded an even par 70 in round two and is in third at 6-under 134 (64-70).

The tournament’s final round of stroke play on the par 70, 7,005-yard Sea Island Golf Club Seaside Course will tee off Friday morning. All 14 schools from the SEC will compete in a 54-hole, stroke-play format. Eight teams will advance to the match-play quarterfinals Saturday morning, with four teams moving on to the match-play semifinals Saturday afternoon. The final two teams will then go head-to-head in the match-play finals on Sunday.

Live scoring can be found throughout the event on Golfstat.com, with the Sunday’s championship match being televised live on SEC Network.

Round One Highlights

• Canon Claycomb’s 36-hole score of 7-under par 133 matches his best collegiate score through the first two rounds in any tournament
• Thomas Ponder also set his season-best 36-hole score while collecting his 20^th round of par or better
• Jonathan Griz collected his second consecutive round at even par 70 and is in a tie for 27^th overall with a 140
• Nick Dunlap is one stroke back in a tie for 35^th with a 1-over par 141 (69-72)
• JP Cave rounds out the Crimson Tide starting lineup at 10-over par 150 (77-73) and in a tie for 64^th overall

Team Highlights

• No. 17 Alabama and No. 15 Texas A&M hold a two-stroke lead over No. 9 Florida (-10)
• No. 1 Vanderbilt (-6), No. 13 Tennessee (-6), No. 18 Mississippi State (-5) and No. 43 Missouri (-2) have a hold on the remaining top eight spots, respectively, entering Friday’s third and final round
• This year’s SEC Championship field features…