Tide wins Hayt Collegiate; UNF 3rd

Tuesday, February 19

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

All Day

University of North Florida

John Hayt Collegiate Invitational

Michael O'Neal accepts the tournament runner-up trophy from Scott Schroeder.

2/19/2008 4:38:16 PM | Men's Golf

Michael O'Neal ties for second

Results

Tournament Home Page

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 19, 2008) – The University of Alabama golf team closed out the back nine of the 2008 John Hayt Collegiate Invitational with a 290 to capture the team title at Sawgrass Country Club.

The Tide outlasted UCLA and UNF down the stretch, finishing with a three-day total of 873 (7-over-par). The Bruins finished second with a total of 877, while UNF and Tennessee tied for third at 886.

Georgia State's Joel Sjoholm won the individual title with a three-day score of 209. His 7-under-par total was the third lowest winning score in tournament history. He beat out a group of three players that included UNF's Michael O'Neal, Florida's Will Strickler and UCLA's Jason Kang, who recorded a tournament-low 68 on Tuesday.

Sjoholm closed out his championship run with a 2-under-par round of 70. He fired a 33 on the front nine with birdies on hole Nos. 1,4,6 and 8 before recovering from a double bogey on the 11^th hole to birdie the 12^th and 17^th holes.

While he was wrapping up the individual title, Alabama was contending with a field that contained four teams within six shots of the lead on the front nine. The Tide and Bruins flip-flopped the lead on the back with UNF remaining in contention until the final nine holes of play.

The Ospreys shot a team total of 301 on Tuesday, with O'Neal preserving the third-place finish after he birdied the 18^th hole. He shot even par for the day and 2-under for the tournament.

Jeff Dennis was UNF's next highest finisher, recording a round of 77 on Tuesday to finish tied for 16^th. Jordan Gibb (75), Major Forbess (77) and Chris Kennedy (78) rounded out the scoring for the Ospreys.

J.C. Horne, playing as an individual, recorded a 74 for the Ospreys, while Jacob Davidson – also competing as an individual – shot an even par 72 to finish tied for 29^th with Horne.

Notables: Alabama is only the second team to repeat as tournament champion … Florida was the last team to repeat, winning the event from 1999-2002 … Alabama bettered its 2007 winning score by 10 strokes and recorded the lowest winning score since South Carolina shot a team total of 3-under-par in 2004 … the third-place finish for UNF was the team's highest since finishing third in 2002.

Quotables

Alabama coach Jay Seawell

“Sawgrass is always fantastic, every year I come here this tournament gets better. To be able to come up the 18^th fairway and see all of the people around the green, that tells you this is a big time tournament. It's an honor to have this trophy again.”

Georgia State's Joel Sjoholm

“This has been a great tournament, it has been fun to be here and this is a tremendous golf course. I have been playing well this year. I am getting closer to where I want to be. I want to turn professional at the end of this season. I am not quite there yet, but I am getting closer. Winning a tournament of this caliber makes me feel like I have a shot.”

UNF head coach Scott Schroeder

“We tied for third, but didn't play our best today. We had to count a bunch of big numbers. This was our first chance playing with two of the best teams in the nation and we didn't embarrass ourselves. It was a good week. Michael O'Neal played solid all week. I was very impressed with him because he hit a ball out bounds on No. 11 and made bogey, but didn't let it affect him. It was a good finish for him after he struggled last week at the Gator Invitational. He showed why he was a team leader this week.”

UNF's Michael O'Neal

“I grinded it out today. I was happy that was able to birdie that last hole and secure a top-three finish for the team. This was the first time our team has been in this position in a long time and we held our own.”

Final Team Results

1. Alabama (873)

2. UCLA (877)

t3. UNF (886)

t3. Tennessee (886)

t5. Charlotte (889)

t5. Florida (889)

t7. UAB (893)

t7. Coastal Carolina (893)

t9. Pepperdine (894)

t9. Georgia State (894)

11. South Carolina (895)