Alex Goff (Blessings Collegiate Invitational)
Walking up the 18th fairway, Kentucky’s Alex Goff was nearly certain he was taking a winner’s walk. Despite coming away from the par-3 17th with a double-bogey and hitting his tee shot into a fairway bunker left, the Wildcat still held a four shot lead as he teed off on the last.
Unfortunately, four of Goff’s teammates also found the same bunker which made identifying the balls tough. With all five golfers from each team in the same group due to COVID-19 protocols, mishits were a problem all week but none bigger than the faux pax on the final hole of the tournament.
Hitting the wrong ball and missing a putt for double-bogey, Goff saw his lead dwindle to just one shot. Just one group behind him, Tennessee’s Hunter Wolcott was making a charge with a now wide open door.
“I can promise you that’ll never happen again,” Goff said in his postround interview. “I could’ve sworn that I was the only person that was playing a Titleist one with a Kentucky logo on it.”
As golf and life would have it, Wolcott would remain one shot back as Goff escaped disaster while dedicating the week to his late friend and teammate, Cullen Brown.
Brown passed away earlier this summer after a battle with bone cancer. This week at The Blessings, Goff carried Brown’s golf bag en route to the victory.
“I knew that Cullen [Brown] was watching down on me and he was with me every moment,” he said. “I truly believe that he was the reason I won it. I can also say that if he was still here I’d probably come in second today.”
Goff’s rounds of 69-65-76 was good for a 210 total, clearing Texas A&M’s Dan Erickson and Wolcott by two strokes.
Alabama’s men’s team took home the team title on the backs of even par performances from Wilson Furr and Tyler Lipscomb. Thomas Ponder (+1) and Davis Shore (+3) gave the Crimson Tide a 4-over, 868 total, clearing the Tennessee Volunteers by five strokes.
Taking home the BCI women’s individual title was hometown favorite, Brooke Matthews. A Rogers, Arkansas native and current redshirt junior at the University of Arkansas, Matthews used home course advantage to the fullest. Her rounds 66-67-73 separated her from challenger Ingrid Lindblad of LSU.
The low round of the day on the women’s side belonged to South Carolina’s Pimnimpa Panthong as she got herself back to even par on the tournament with a 4-under 68 performance.
Matthews’ performance helped motivate her team to play their best golf. Winning the women’s team title with an even-par 864, the Razorbacks picked up a win while successfully defending their home turf.
Next on the SEC schedule is a stop in Nashville, Tennessee at the Legends Collegiate Invitational on the men’s side. For the ladies, they’ll head to Starksville, Mississippi to tackle Old Waverly as Mississippi State plays host.
ABOUT THE Blessings Collegiate
Started in 2020, the Blessings Collegiate Invitational
features men’s and women’s teams competing in a 54-
hole stroke play format for individual and team honors.
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