April 16, 2008

TUSCALOOSA - The trophy case is full in the Jerry Pate Golf Center, home to the University of Alabama golf teams. Alabama's men have placed five trophies in the cabinet this season alone. But there is only one Southeastern Conference men's golf championship trophy and it's 29 years old.

This weekend Crimson Tide head golf coach Jay Seawell wants to go to St. Simons Island, Ga., and bring back a souvenir to display in the Pate Center's cabinets: the 2008 SEC Championship trophy. His Alabama team is a favorite to win it, but the key word there is "a." After all, this is a conference that has four teams ranked in the Top 10 nationally, including the top two spots. Seawell's Alabama team is No. 1 in the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches' Poll and No. 2 in this week's Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Georgia is No. 1 by Golfweek/Sagarin and No. 2 with the coaches, who rank Florida No. 8 and Tennessee No. 9. Joining them in the Top 25 from the SEC are Auburn at No. 12 and South Carolina at No. 13.

"I think the expectations are very high for us at SEC's this year," said Seawell from his office in Coleman Coliseum. "It's a tough conference, but we are one of the top teams that are going to be competing. We have four SEC teams in the Top 10 with Tennessee and Florida and then Auburn and South Carolina are ranked in the Top 15, so that's six teams in the top 13. It would be nice to be the best team in the conference and the then the conference have a down year. But that's okay. That's the SEC. I think every coach in this building here recognizes and understands that the SEC is the best conference in all sports."

The 2008 SEC Men's Golf Championships will be held Friday, April 18, through Sunday, April 20, in Sea Island, Ga. The venue is new this year, moving after seven straight years from Seaside Golf Course to Frederica Golf Club on St. Simons Island.

"I've never played there," said Seawell of the Frederica course. "It's very, very exclusive. It has 100 members. It's not a public course. But three of our guys, Mark Harrell, Michael Thompson and Matthew Swan have all played the Jones Cup there last winter. It's a long golf course with big fairways which I do think helps us because you can hit it long and a little bit crooked. But the toughness comes around the greens. They are very big. They're undulating. It's a lot like Augusta National. You have to hit it on the right plateau or the ball is going to go all over the place, so that's where the golf course is tough."

Alabama has won five team championships this season with five different lineups. The Tide is six men strong, though only five can compete, making for both a great situation and a tough one when it came time to narrowing down which five players will compete for the SEC title this weekend. Thompson (70.10), Harrell (72.85), Swan (72.57), Joseph Sykora (73.33) and Matt Hughes (72.89) will make up Alabama's team, leaving behind 2007 All-SEC golfer Gator Todd (74.43).

Sykora, Harrell and Swan have all won individual collegiate tournament championships this season, Sykora at the Topy Cup in September, Harrell at the Jerry Pate in October and Swan at the Puerto Rico Classic in February. Thompson and Harrell are on the Ben Hogan Player of the Year watch list. Thompson and Swan are among the Jack Nicklaus Award nominees. Thompson just finished a run at the Masters where he competed as an amateur and shot 73-78/151.

"Last Wednesday (April 2) was probably the hardest day I've had in 16 years of coaching," said Seawell. "To leave Gator at home was a difficult decision. I think it's a tribute to our team how good we are that we are going to leave a great player at home. I've been agonizing over this for about a month on who was going, who wasn't. It flip-flopped all over. To leave Gator at home was probably heartbreak for me and I know it was for him. However, we're trying to take the team that we feel can best help us win the SEC Championship. We feel like we've done that. The guys are getting ready and I'm looking forward to seeing how they will do."

Going into the tournament, which begins Thursday with a practice round, Thompson is the league's top-ranked golfer and ranks second in the nation in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. Alabama leads the league statistically in individual stroke average at 71.64 in 27 rounds, just ahead of Georgia's 71.77 in 23 rounds and in team stroke average with 286.56 per round compared to Georgia's 287.09.

Alabama has won only one SEC Championship in men's and women's golf, that in 1979 when the late Conrad Rehling's Alabama team shot 876 to win the league title in Birmingham. Last season the Tide finished second. Tennessee is the league's defending champion.