The Alabama Crimson Tide are once again kings of college golf.
Alabama’s Trey Mullinax holed an eagle putt on the 17th hole to close out a 2-and-1 win over Ian Davis and clinch a 4-1 team victory over Oklahoma State in the finals of the men’s Division I NCAA Championship. The Tide, who defeated Illinois in the team final last year, join Augusta State (2010-11) as the only squads to win back-to-back titles since 1986.
“This year has been a lot different. We felt that target, and by the end of the year it kind of weighed on us,” said Alabama head coach Jay Seawell. “At a small tournament in Nashville, the Mason-Rudolph, on the back nine of the second round, it kind of clicked and we became the Crimson Tide again.”
Bobby Wyatt got things started early for Alabama with a hole-in-one on the par-3 second hole. The ace squared his match with Talor Gooch, and Wyatt went on to defeat Gooch, 3 and 2, to get the Tide’s first point of the day.
Freshman Robby Shelton came through in the clutch for Alabama, holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to edge Oklahoma State’s Zachary Olsen, 1 up. Wyndham Clark got the Cowboys on the board with a win over Tom Lovelady, 3 and 1, before Mullinax clinched the title.
“Me and Coach Seawell were mostly just worried about speed...we were just trying to lag it down there,” Mullinax said of his title-clinching putt. “For it to go in was something special.”
In the anchor match, Cory Whitsett defeated Oklahoma State’s Jordan Niebrugge, 2 and 1.
This was Alabama’s third straight trip to the NCAA finals, having lost to Texas in 2012.
“Oklahoma State is a great team,” Seawell said. “They played really, really great. But these guys did what they needed to, and I’m very proud of that, and I am proud of the legacy they will have at the university and also in college golf.”