Brooks Rabren wins the Spirit of America Classic
Spirit of America champion Brooks Rabren
DECATUR, AL (July 9, 2017) - On the 36-hole final day of the 50th Spirit of America Classic
Brooks Rabren fired rounds of 68-67 to finish 7-under and as the three-stroke winner at Burningtree Country Club.
Rabren, a sophomore at South Alabama, began the final day four-strokes off the pace before rallying to the come from behind victory.
“It’s been a great week,” Rabren told the Decatur Daily. “I guess my expectations need to be a little higher in the future.”
Early in the second round it looked as if Rabren had played himself out of the tournament, “I was 6 over after 21 holes,” Rabren said who opened with rounds of 72-70. “I just told myself it was early and I had a lot of holes left to make up for that bad start. That’s not how I used to handle adversity.”
With four holes remaining in the final round a handful of golfers were still in the mix but Rabren pulled away down the stretch with birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 18. He became the first South Alabama player to win the Spirit of America since 1995 when Heath Slocum claimed the title.
Mac Murphy (-4) took second place, Cody O'Toole (-3) and William Walker III (-3) shared third while James Medley (-2) placed fifth.
In the team competition UAB Team 2 captured the title by three-strokes over Florida State. The UAB squad (148-140-137-144--569) was comprised of Scott Bryan and William Walker III.
Editors Note: Decatur Daily contributed to this story
ABOUT THE Spirit of America
The Spirit of America Golf Classic is Burningtree
Country Club's long-running, fundraising
tournament
held annually in conjunction with
Decatur’s Spirit of America Festival, which itself is
one
of the largest, free Fourth of July festivals in the
south. Established in 1967, this unique "college
team
and
individual" format event has been
home to collegiate players and top amateur
players
from across the nation. The format is 72-holes of
stroke play, with a 54-hole
collegiate team division. The "Spirit"
tournament boasts many top graduates, like 1995
Champion-turned-PGA tour player Heath Slocum,
and
1989 Junior Champion-turned-PGA tour player
Stewart
Cink.
Starting in 2020 the golf tournament will be a coed
event. The plan is to have 30 two-woman teams and
30 two-
man teams. The women’s teams will be invited and
not have to pay an entry fee.
View Complete Tournament Information