Alabama golf ranked No.1 in Preseason Coaches’ Poll

Fresh off a promising run in the NCAA Tournament and an exciting season for several individual competitors on the squad, the Alabama men’s golf team has reason to be excited for its upcoming season. The Tide was recently ranked No. 1 in the nation for the 2012-2013 season by the Golf World/Nike Division I Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

The Crimson Tide returns three phenomenal golfers to a team that finished as the runner-up at the NCAA Championships this past June. Sophomore Justin Thomas heads into the season as the top-ranked individual golfer according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.

Thomas was last season’s National Player of the Year after winning four events and averaging a 70.39 throughout the season. In addition, Thomas was also a semifinalist at the U.S. Amateurs during the summer, a consensus first-team All-American and the 2012 Haskins Award winner, an award given each year to the best collegiate golfer.

Juniors Cory Whitsett and Bobby Wyatt also return for their third go-round as a member of the Crimson Tide. Both players put together great performances in the final few rounds of the NCAA Tournament to secure the Tide’s place in the championship match. Both players were All-SEC selections during the 2011 season as well as second-team All-American as named by Golfweek.

The Tide received 13 first-place votes and 558 points during the voting process. Directly behind the Crimson Tide at the No. 2 spot is the Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns knocked off the Tide to win the NCAA Championships last season. Texas received eight first-place votes. California will begin the season as the No. 3 team in the nation followed by UCLA at No. 4 and Washington at No. 5.

The Crimson Tide will begin its season on September 7 when it competes in the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Rocky Face, Ga.