No. 13 Alabama in Fifth After Opening Round of the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – The No. 13 Alabama men’s golf team carded a 5-over par 285 Friday and is among four teams tied for fifth overall after the opening round of the OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational,

Hosted by the University of Illinois, the three-day, 54-hole event will continue Saturday and Sunday, at the par 70, 7,310-yard Olympia Fields Country Club – North Course.

Live scoring throughout the event is available on GolfStat.com.

The Highlights

• Nick Dunlap and Thomas Ponder are in a tie for 15^th place after day one, with both carding rounds of even par 70
• Canon Claycomb is in a tie for 25^th position after carding a round of 1-over par 71
• Claycomb also led the team with five birdies, while Ponder finished with four
• Jones Free (74) is in a tie for 57^th while JP Cave (75) is in a tie for 66^th to round out the UA starting lineup

The Field

• No. 11 Texas holds the clubhouse lead at 4-under par, one shot ahead of No. 4 Georgia Tech (-3)
• Together, the two schools were the only teams in the 15-team field to shoot under par
• No. 1 North Carolina is in third followed by No. 5 Florida State
• Along with the 13^th-ranked Crimson Tide, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 9 and tournament host Illinois and No. 19 Arizona are among the four schools tied for fifth entering Saturday’s second round action

Fun Facts

• As a team, the Tide’s 16 birdies rank second in the tournament behind Texas’ 18 birdies
• A total of 12 out of the 15-team field are heading into the tournament ranked inside the Preseason Golfweek top-15 national rankings

Next Up

• Alabama will tee off round two of the three-day event at 8 a.m. CT off Hole No. 1
• The Tide will be paired alongside Arizona and Florida

Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaMGolf, on X, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.