PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – In Alabama's final match of the day on Saturday, senior Hunter Hamrick staved off a charge from his California counterpart to secure the Crimson Tide's spot in the finals of the NCAA Men's Golf Championships at The Riviera Country Club.
Along with Hamrick's 1-up win, Alabama received another 1-up win from junior Scott Strohmeyer, who made par on 18 to secure the Tide's second point. Cory Whitsett closed out Brandon Hagy with a birdie on the 17th for a 3 & 1 win.
"Cal is a great golf team," Alabama head coach Jay Seawell said. "We knew that. We told the team last night to expect from hole one to hole 18 to be in a battle. We played with them the first two days, and they are built very similar to our team. They have five very good players, and they do not have any holes. I don't think we have any holes.
"We knew every match could go to the 18th and I think every match went to 17. Everybody battled. It came down to our captain just hanging on."
Hamrick, from Montgomery, Ala., opened up a 4-up lead after seven holes but saw California's Joel Stalter mount a charge over the final 11 holes. Stalter won the eighth with par, the 12th with birdie and 13th with par to get within one hole.
"I got off to a really good start," Hamrick said. "I birdied three in a row in the middle of the front nine and built a nice lead. I knew … he was going to be a fighter. When I got up, I was trying to bury him because I knew he would push me until the end, and he did. I didn't mess up too much and he just kept coming at me."
The key hole of the match played out on the par 3, 189-yard 14th hole. Stalter hit it stiff and forced Hamrick to connect on his putt to keep from squaring the match with four holes to play.
"He (Stalter) birdied 12, which I don't think anyone is birding 12 today," Hamrick said. "I hit a couple of bad shots on 13 and lost that hole. We got to 14 and I had to make about a 10-footer to tie the hole, and I made it. Right there, to keep my lead at 1 up, that was a big putt for me."
Justin Thomas fell 2 & 1 to Cal's Max Homa while Bobby Wyatt also lost to the Bears' Michael Kim 2 & 1. Alabama's win on Saturday sets up a NCAA Finals on Sunday with the Texas Longhorns.
The Crimson Tide and Texas will tee off at 12 p.m. (CDT) from the Riviera Country Club. The Crimson Tide is in search of the school's first national championship in men's golf, but its fourth national title as a school during the 2011-12 academic year (football, women's gymnastics and women's golf). Follow live scoring at NCAA.com and follow breaking news on the Crimson Tide on Facebook at Alabama-mens-golf and on Twitter at @AlabamaMGolf.
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