Alabama
SEC Match Play hosted by Jerry Pate
Alabama Men’s Golf Welcomes a Star-Studded Field for SEC Match Play Event Hosted by Jerry Pate
9/23/2022 11:47:00 AM | Men's Golf
The Crimson Tide’s lone home tournament will boast 11 teams ranked among the top 35 in the nation in the 14-team SEC-only field
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama men's golf team will welcome 13 SEC teams for the annual SEC Match Play hosted by Jerry Pate – the Tide's lone home event of the season. The No. 32-ranked Crimson Tide is part of a 14-team field that features 12 squads ranked or receiving votes in the Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll and some of the top golfers in the nation.
The unique three-day tournament will be held Sunday through Tuesday, September 25-27, at the par 70, 7,204-yard Old Overton Club course in Vestavia Hills, Ala. The teams will compete in 54 holes of stroke play – 36 holes Sunday followed by 18 Monday – with match play coming on Tuesday. The top two finishers from stroke play will square off in the final groupings of the day to determine the tournament champion, with the 12 other teams squaring off in East vs. West Match Play format.
Admission for fans is free throughout the tournament.
The Lineup
- The Crimson Tide's starting five for the event will consist of Canon Claycomb, Thomas Ponder, Nick Dunlap, Tyler Lipscomb and JP Cave
- Alabama will be led by the senior duo of Claycomb and Ponder, who have led the Tide in every event this season
- Claycomb began his senior campaign by earning medalist honors at the Rod Myers Invitational, which he followed up with an eighth-place finish at the OFCC/Fighting Illini invitational
- He leads the team with a 69.00 per round average and a -2.00 average vs. par through the early part of the season
- Ponder has also earned a pair of top-10 finishes in the Tide's opening two tournaments, including a career-best runner-up finish at the Rod Myers Invitational
- His 70.17 per round stroke average and -0.83 average vs. par ranks second behind Claycomb
- Claycomb began his senior campaign by earning medalist honors at the Rod Myers Invitational, which he followed up with an eighth-place finish at the OFCC/Fighting Illini invitational
- Dunlap has made an immediate impact so far in his freshman season, finishing in the top 20 individually in both fall tournaments and contributing all six of his rounds to the Tide's team total
- He ranks third with a stroke average of 71.00 while having shot even par on the year
- Tyler Lipscomb and JP Cave will make their 2022-23 season debut for the Crimson Tide at the No. 4 and 5 spots, respectively
Tournament Preview
- The 14-team field features 12 teams in the nation's top 50, headlined by No. 1 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Florida
- Other ranked teams in the field include No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 Auburn, No. 14 Arkansas, No. 16 Georgia, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 21 LSU, No. 23 Ole Miss, No. 32 Alabama, No. 33 South Carolina and No. 41 Missouri
- Kentucky and Mississippi State round out the tournament field
- The SEC Match Play event replaced the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, which was hosted by the Tide for 35 years (1986-2020)
- The event is named after Jerry Pate – one of the most successful professional golfers to have worn the crimson and white
- Plays an active role each year in the event, including presenting the tournament trophy
- 1974 United States Amateur champion – only weeks before he started his senior season at UA
- Won the 1976 U.S. Open as a rookie on the tour
- Named the 1976 PGA Rookie of the Year and Co-Player of the Year
- Went on to win eight PGA Tournaments
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.
Players Mentioned
