April 19, 2009 - Report from the Collegiate Disc Golf Championships at Augusta
The Crimson Tide Disc Golf Team traveled to Augusta, Georgia for the Collegiate Disc Golf Championships from
April 17-19, 2009. The team was represented by Drew Patton, Josh Maynor, Alex Butler, David Anthony, and
Ben Wales. The team finished 4th in the tournament which consisted of four singles rounds, an alternate shot
doubles round, and a team putting competition. Patton and Butler won the Collegiate Disc Golf Doubles
National Championship and Patton also earned Second Team All-American honors and won the Long Drive
competition.
On the first day, the red (short) tees and the blue (medium) tees were played during the first two singles
rounds. The Crimson Tide finished the first day tied for 8th and 23 strokes off of UAH's lead of 20 strokes under
par. The red and black (long) tees were played during the third and fourth singles rounds on day two. The Tide
moved up tot the 4th place after the second day of singles rounds, but lost ground on the new leader,
Mississippi State. Bama performed well in the doubles competition and well enough in the putting competition
to maintain their position for a 4th place finish. Mississippi State ultimately held on to win the National
championship and their top player, Drew Davis, won the individual championship.
Individually, the top performer for Alabama was Drew Patton who finished 1th and peaked in the 4th round
with a 958 rated round. Josh Maynor finished 17th with his best rated round at 943. Alex Butler finished 23rd
and his best rated round was a 930. David Anthony and Ben Wales shared duties. Anthony's best round was
rated 882 and Wales' best was 800. The top rated round of the entire tournament was a 1013 rating shot by an
Arkansas player.
This was Alex Butler's third time to represent the University of Alabama at the collegiate championships.
Butler also won a Doubles National Championship at the 2007 tournament with his partner, Michael Connors.
Maynor attended the collegiate championships for the first time in 2008 when he earned First Team All-American
honors. In 2007, the team finished 2nd at the championships and 5th in 2008. The 2009 4th place finish makes
Alabama the only team to have finished in the top 5 in all o fthe Collegiate Disc Golf Championships. This was
the first trip to the championships for Patton, Anthony, and Wales.
Disc Golf Team
is pleased to announce the results of the
Alabama Slammer
Collegiate Challenge
This tournament is a PDGA Sanctioned
COLLEGIATE TEAM event.
A team must consist of
at least 3 but no more than 4 players.
Participating Teams:
University of Alabama Crimson Tide - A
University of Alabama Crimson Tide - B
Mississippi State University Bulldogs
University of Alabama - Birmingham Blazers
University of Alabama - Huntsville Chargers
Birmingham Southern College Panthers
MISSISSIPPI STATE WINS THE ALABAMA SLAMMER AND
A SEEDING AT THE 2009 COLLEGIATE DISC GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Format: 2 Rounds Total - 1 Best Shot Doubles, 1 Singles
Doubles Round: One pair per team must play, two pairs may play for teams with 4 players
Team Scoring: Top 3 Singles Score plus Top Doubles Pair Score
1 | Drew Davis/Kenneth Gustine | Mississippi State Univ. | 42 |
2 | Josh Maynor/Ben Wales | Crimson Tide - A | 43 |
Clifton Byrd/Joseph Rychlak | Birmingham Southern College | 43 | |
4 | Tyler Harbin/Zac Simpson | Univ. of Alabama - Huntsville | 44 |
5 | Alex Butler/Drew Patton | Crimson Tide - A | 47 |
6 | Jarrod Bush/Andy Burns | Crimson Tide - B | 48 |
Brad Wardman/Justin Irvin | Univ. of Alabama - Birmingham | 48 | |
Nathan Pitts/Scott Turner | Univ. of Alabama - Huntsville | 48 | |
9 | David Hilgeman/Alex Cape | Birmingham Southern College | 49 |
10 | John Roberts/Justin Lesley | Univ. of Alabama - Birmingham | 51 |
Connor Bentley/Casey Punturo | Crimson Tide - B | 51 | |
12 | Andy Jones/Jordan Eldridge | Mississippi State Univ. | 53 |
Player | School | Round 2 | |
1 | Drew Davis | Mississippi State Univ. | 47 |
2 | Alex Butler | Crimson Tide - A | 49 |
3 | Tyler Harbin | Univ. of Alabama- Huntsville | 51 |
Drew Patton | Crimson Tide - A | 51 | |
5 | Clifton Byrd | Birmingham Southern College | 52 |
Brad Wardman | Univ. of Alabama - Birmingham | 52 | |
David Hilgeman | Birmingham Southern College | 52 | |
John Roberts | Univ. of Alabama - Birmingham | 52 | |
9 | Nathan Pitts | Univ. of Alabama - Huntsville | 53 |
10 | Kenneth Gustine | Mississippi State Univ. | 54 |
Zac Simpson | Univ. of Alabama- Huntsville | 54 | |
Scott Turner | Univ. of Alabama - Huntsville | 54 | |
13 | Josh Maynor | Crimson Tide - A | 56 |
Andy Jones | Mississippi State Univ. | 56 | |
15 | Justin Lesley | Univ. of Alabama - Birmingham | 57 |
16 | Joseph Rychlak | Birmingham Southern College | 58 |
17 | Jarrod Bush | Crimson Tide - B | 59 |
18 | Andy Burns | Crimson Tide - B | 61 |
19 | Justin Irvin | Univ. of Alabama - Birmingham | 63 |
Connor Bentley | Crimson Tide - B | 63 | |
21 | Ben Wales | Crimson Tide - A | 64 |
22 | Casey Punturo | Crimson Tide - B | 66 |
23 | Jordan Eldridge | Mississippi State Univ. | 70 |
24 | Alex Cape | Birmingham Southern College | 999 |
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS
Doubles | Singles-1 | Singles-2 | Singles-3 | Total | |
Mississippi State University* | 42 | 47 | 54 | 56 | 199 |
Crimson Tide - A | 43 | 49 | 51 | 56 | 199 |
University of Alabama - Huntsville | 44 | 51 | 53 | 54 | 202 |
Birmingham Southern College | 43 | 52 | 52 | 58 | 205 |
University of Alabama - Birmingham | 48 | 52 | 52 | 57 | 209 |
Crimson Tide - B | 48 | 59 | 61 | 63 | 231 |
The Alabama Slammer was an outstanding success with very intense competition from 5 different schools. After one doubles round and one singles round, there was only a ten stroke difference among the top 5 teams. Mississippi State's team tied the home team, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide A team for first place after two rounds. MSU had the top doubles score from Drew Davis and Kenneth Gustine with a 42, edging out the Tide's team of Josh Maynor and Ben Wales and Birmingham Southern's team of Clifton Byrd and Joseph Rychlak by one stroke. MSU's Davis also took the top score (47) in singles with a two stroke lead over the next best performer, the Crimson Tide's own Alex Butler (49). Just behind them, Tyler Harbin of UAH and Drew Patton, also a Tide player, tied for 3rd with a 51. The top performers for Birmingham Southern and UAB were in a four-way tie for 5th place.
It should also be noted that, across the board, it was MSU's Drew Davis's day. Not only did he and his doubles partner win the doubles round by a stroke, not only did he win the singles competition by two strokes, but he also took home a CTP prize and ALL THREE ROUNDS of the Ring of Fire.
Congratulations again to Drew Davis, Kenneth Gustine, Andy Jones, and Jordan Eldridge of Mississippi State University! On a final note, this win has earned Mississippi State a seeding at the Collegiate Championships in Augusta, GA. Way to go, Bulldogs!