The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Hunter Hawkins Places Third Overall At State Amateur
6/12/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
June 12, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - UAB men's golfer Hunter Hawkins ended play at the 95th State Amateur Championship at FarmLinks Golf Club tied for third place overall with a four-round total of 13-under par 275 (65-68-67-75). Despite not winning the title, Hawkins was one of three Blazers who finished among the top 15 golfers in the 156-man field.
Smylie Kaufman, a freshman at LSU and the grandson of UAB men's golf head coach Alan Kaufman, carded a final round of 67 to finish with a 16-under par 272, topping second place finisher Bobby Wyatt (274) by two strokes.
After 54 holes, things looked promising for Hawkins, a rising junior, as he owned a five stroke advantage over Smylie Kaufman heading into Sunday's final round. The Fort Payne, Ala. native would hold onto the outright lead through Sunday's first 11 holes, but bogeys on Nos. 12 and 15 left him three back.
"I just putted terrible," Hawkins said. "I must have had 10 putts under 10 feet and only made a couple of them. I tried to stay patient, but that only worked for a while."
After Hawkins' third round, he had said if he could shoot under par in the final round he would be hard to catch. It would have been true, as one-under-par would have won it for him.
Hawkins was not the only bright spot for UAB golfers in the prestigious event. Rising sophomore Thomas Sutton began the day in a tie for 33rd but vaulted up the leader board after carding an eight-under par 64 on Sunday, which was the lowest round by any golfer during the tournament. As a result, Sutton finished in sixth place overall with a 281 (71-73-73-64).
Sam Love, another sophomore-to-be, also played well, recording a 13th-place with a four-day score of 283 (71-74-66-72).
