Alabama football coach Nick Saban and former Tide and current New Orleans Saint running back Mark Ingram finished fifth place in the 2017 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge Golf Tournament.
The Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Challenge Tournament was played Tuesday at Reynolds Plantation, outside of Atlanta. Along with the Alabama football team of Nick and Mark, fourteen other college programs participated in the two-man scramble format tournament.
The two-man teams included at least one coach. Most coaches were paired with a former player or other celebrity. The tournament raised more than $600,000 that was distributed to the competing teams for scholarships and charities.
Nick and Mark shot a team score of seven-under par and earned $50,000 for Nick’s Kids Foundation and University of Alabama scholarships.
.@AlabamaFTBL's Nick Saban & @MarkIngram22 finished in 5th place and will take home $50,000 in scholarship and charity. #CFAPBGolf #RollTide pic.twitter.com/4Ot6GXmuRu
— Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (@CFAPeachBowl) May 2, 2017
Since the tournament began in 2007, the Georgia Tech team of Paul Johnson and Jon Barry have won four times.
Last year’s Challenge Tournament was won by Hugh Freeze and Wesley Walls. Other past winners are Al Golden and Gino Torretta; Jimbo Fisher and Terrell Buckley; Steve Spurrier and Sterling Sharpe; and Frank Beamer and Dell Curry.
The Rebel/Black Bear duo of Hugh Freeze and Wesley Walls repeated as champions. Their winning score of 11-under par earned their beneficiaries $100,000.
Winning $100,000 in scholarship/charity, @OleMissFB defended their #CFAPBGolf title as they shot -11 for the victory. #CFAPBGolf #HottyToddy pic.twitter.com/KPdwf809ge
— Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (@CFAPeachBowl) May 2, 2017
A totally unsubstantiated internet rumor claimed immediately after the event, Steve Spurrier phoned the NCAA Compliance Division. Spurrier allegedly complained the Ole Miss team gained an impermissible advantage by using mulligans on multiple holes. The tournament format did not allow the use of mulligans.
The Florida team of Spurrier and Shane Matthews finished two shots behind Ole Miss at nine-under par.
It is not known if Hugh Freeze challenged anyone to come forward if they had any real evidence of the Ole Miss team cheating during the event.
Tommy Tuberville’s team, playing for a school that fired him, Cincinnati, tied another school that fired him, Auburn at four-under par. Tuberville appeared to be in great spirits, enjoying a day on the links after his recent short and inconsequential foray into Alabama gubernatorial politics.
Gus Malzahn was apparently unhappy with his team’s finish and was rumored to say his team should have beaten the Saban team “by sixty.” Tubberville’s partner, Al Del Greco doesn’t look too happy watching Gus putt in the photo below.
.@AuburnFootball's @CoachGusMalzahn and Al Del Greco shot four-under and have won $25,000 in scholarship and charity. #CFAPBGolf #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/deUj2BsfNx
— Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (@CFAPeachBowl) May 2, 2017
The golf competition was in fact, all in good fun and certainly commendable in generating significant funds for worthwhile causes.
We hope readers recognize our commentary was made in the same “all in good fun” vein. Our disparagement of any coach while intentional was done purely for entertainment value.
Next: Redskins D - About to be Built by Bama
The Peach Bowl Chick-fil-A Challenge Golf Tournament organizers state the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN in August. Hopefully, that will give the NCAA enough time to rule on the purported Ole Miss mulligans.