Brooks Rabren wins the Spirit of America Classic

July 9, 2017 | by AmateurGolf.com Staff

Spirit of America champion Brooks Rabren

Celebrating its 50th year, the tournament combines and individual and college team championship at Burningtree CC

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

Results: Spirit of America

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Brooks Rabren	Andalusia, AL	300	72-70-68-67=277
2	Mac Murphy	Decatur, AL	200	73-70-68-69=280
T3	Cody O'Toole	Pinson, AL	100	75-65-74-67=281
5	James Medley	Athens, AL	100	72-69-73-68=282
T3	William Walker	Tuscaloosa, AL	100	73-69-68-71=281

View full results for Spirit of America

About the Spirit of America

Brooks Rabren wins the Spirit of America Classic

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 sou...