Alabama Crimson Tide: Men’s golf to play for national championship

The Alabama Crimson Tide will play for a national championship Wednesday afternoon as the men’s golf team faces Oklahoma State in the NCAA Finals.

The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s golf team trounced Duke in the NCAA semi-finals Tuesday in Stillwater, OK. The Tide men won all five matches against the Blue Devils. Davis Shore won 6-and-5. Lee Hodges, Davis Riley and Jonathan Hardee all won 3-and-2 matches. Wilson Furr won 2-and-1.

On Tuesday morning, the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Texas Tech, three matches to two. Morning session winners for the Tide were Davis Riley, Wilson Furr and Davis Shore. Duke defeated Texas in the morning quarterfinal session, 3-and-2.

Oklahoma State advanced with a morning win over Texas A&M, 3-1-1. In the afternoon semi-final contest the Cowboys took out the Auburn Tigers, winning 3-2.

Oklahoma State is one of the bluebloods of NCAA men’s golf. The Cowboys have won 10 championships going back to 1963. Their storied success includes two national championships every decade going back to the 1970’s. Their last national championship win was in 2006.

The two teams have some history. The Alabama Crimson Tide beat Oklahoma State in the national championship match in 2014. That season, the Crimson Tide finished off the Cowboys 4-1, to record a back-to-back Crimson Tide men’s golf title.

It will not be easy

It will not be so easy in 2018. For one thing, Oklahoma State is the higher ranked team going into the NCAA Finals. Oklahoma State was ranked No.1 and the Crimson Tide was ranked No. 6.

The Cowboys have a couple of more advantages on Wednesday. The NCAA Finals are being played in Stillwater, OK, home of Oklahoma State. A big crowd will turn out to root for the Cowboys.

Oklahoma State has an even bigger advantage. Karsten Creek Golf Club is the home course for the Cowboys. They know the layout like their own backyard. It is a difficult course with plenty of slope in the fairways and near the greens. The greens are very fast. As was seen last week in the Alabama women’s golf shot at a national championship, downhill putts are a big challenge. It was the inability of the Tide women to master green speed in the final round that cost them a championship.

The Alabama Crimson Tide men appeared to have a good feel for the speed so far in the tournament. Listen to Crimson Tide head coach, Jay Seawell talk about the chance to win another national championship.

Whatever happens on Wednesday afternoon, Alabama fans should be extremely proud of Seawell and his team.

Next: Which Tide team will win the school's 28th national championship?

The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s golf team will play in its fourth national championship in the last seven seasons. Not even Oklahoma State has been that good in recent years.