William Jennings led the No. 16 Alabama men’s golf team to a sixth-place finish at the Maridoe Collegiate, which concluded play on March 31 in Carrollton, Texas. Jennings finished tied for fourth overall with a score of 1-over par 217, marking his fifth top five finish in eight tournaments this season.
The Maridoe Collegiate is known as a challenging event that tests golfers’ skills and highlights areas for improvement. Head coach Jay Seawell said, “We choose to play at Maridoe each year because it is a championship-type venue that really challenges you and shows you exactly where your game is and what you need to work on. Some other courses may mask that, but this course takes you out of your comfort zone, which is something we needed to have happen. There were 20-30mph wind gusts today and really, it’s been 20mph gusts this entire week, so it’s a challenging course that will certainly test you. That’s why I love this tournament – the players may not like it as much but at the end of the day there is no hiding from this course, and it gives you a good idea of what you need to work on and where you need to get better.”
Jennings entered the tournament ranked No. 13 nationally and has now led Alabama in six out of eight events played during the year. In addition to his fourth-place result at Maridoe Collegiate, he has achieved two first-place finishes and two runner-up results this season.
Brycen Jones finished tied for fifteenth with an overall score of eight-over par (224), collecting his third top five result of the year while leading Alabama with twelve birdies—second-most among all individuals in the field. Jack Mitchell competed as an individual golfer for Alabama and placed tied for nineteenth with a nine-over par (225), earning his third top-25 finish this season.
Other contributors included Connor Brown (42nd place) who carded an eagle during round one—one of only four eagles recorded throughout the tournament—and Jonathan Griz (tied for forty-eighth). Nick Gross rounded out Alabama’s starting five by tying for fifty-seventh place.
Oklahoma State won the event by eighteen shots over Arizona State. Baylor finished third followed by North Texas in fourth place and Oklahoma in fifth; Alabama was three shots behind Oklahoma.
Looking ahead, Seawell said: “William did another great job playing consistent championship golf… He continues to put himself on top of the leaderboard consistently. Now we just have to get other guys in line with that… William’s performance and consistency are things that I hope will trickle down to the rest of the guys and motivate our team.” The Crimson Tide will next compete at Mossy Oak Collegiate in West Point, Mississippi on April 13-14.
