TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 13 Alabama men’s golf team will open the 2023-24 season this Friday when it tees off at the 17th annual OFCC/Fighting Illini Invitational, hosted by the University of Illinois. The three-day, 54-hole event will take place Friday through Sunday, Sept. 15-17, at the par 70, 7,310-yard Olympia Fields Country Club – North Course in Olympia Fields, Ill. with live scoring throughout the event available on GolfStat.com.
The Lineup
- The Crimson Tide returns all five of its starters from last season’s team that finished No. 11 at the 2023 NCAA Men’s Golf Championships, highlighted by 2023 US Amateur champion Nick Dunlap.
- Dunlap, who was named to the Preseason Haskins Award Watch List, led UA in overall stroke average (70.35), average vs. par (-0.95), rounds in the 60s (17) and rounds of par or better (26)
- Joining Dunlap are first team all-district honorees Canon Claycomb (70.65, -0.57) and Thomas Ponder (71.38, +0.16)
- Returning veterans JP Cave (72.89, +1.71) and Jones Free (73.56, +1.72) round out the Tide’s starting five for the weekend
Tournament Preview
- A total of 12 out of the 15-team field are heading into the tournament ranked inside the top-15 national rankings, according to the Preseason Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches’ Poll
- Joining No. 13 Alabama on the field includes No. 1 North Carolina, No. 2 Arizona State, No. 4 Georgia Tech, No. 5 Florida State, No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Illinois, No. 11 Texas and No. 15 Pepperdine
- The remaining teams include No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 19 Arizona, Baylor, Michigan State and Purdue
- This will mark the Tide’s 12th appearance at the event, bringing home team honors in 2013 and individual medalist honors in 2013 and 2017
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaMGolf, on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
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