3/14/2023 other sports Edit

Gray Albright wins title, FSU takes team title at Seminole Intercollegiate

Gray Albright shot 69-68-69 to win the Seminole Intercollegiate. (Bob Ferrante)

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

Gray Albright turned in the best performance of his career, the only golfer to fire three rounds in the 60s and cruise to a tournament title on his home course.

Often an afterthought on a deep Florida State roster, Albright closed with the only final round below par — a 3-under 69 to wrap up the three-round tournament. Albright shot 69-68-69 as he finished with a 10-under 206 on Tuesday afternoon to win the Seminole Intercollegiate.

"I was just very consistent all week," Albright said. "Made the putts that I needed to, all the short putts that I needed. It was blowing out here. It made it very tough to stay focused at all times but I think I did a really good job of just staying really focused on the task at hand."

Albright hadn't seen much success in his career, claiming a 24th-place finish with a 2-over 222 at the Maui Jim Individual in Arizona in September 2022. This could change his whole perspective.

"There's different ways you can get confidence," FSU coach Trey Jones said. "Someone can tell you, you could just always believe it and sometimes you just have to see it. Gray is a guy that needs to see it. He just saw that he could play and win a college golf tournament. And he earned it."

The junior from Ocala had 17 birdies, including seven in the final round. He had just five bogies across the three rounds, winning the tournament by five strokes over teammates Frederik Kjettrup and Luke Clanton.

"I putted it really well," Albright said. "I was just rolling it exactly on my line all 54 holes. That was nice to see. That and my driving. My driving was really consistent, didn't hit any foul balls. That was nice to see."

Albright was playing as an individual, but the Seminoles still cruised to the team title with a 14-under 850. The Seminoles were the only team under par for the tournament, dominating the 15-team field and finishing 38 shots ahead of runner-up North Alabama.

Kjettrup and Clanton tied for second at 5-under 211. Kjettrup closed with a 73, while Clanton shot 75.

Three more Seminoles took top-10 finishes: Brett Roberts at 1-under for fifth, Jack Bigham at even-par to take a tie for sixth and Cole Anderson at 2-over for eighth place.

"There were no negatives this week," Jones said. "The golf course did its job. Our players showed up. Great support cast. It was wins all the way around. Couldn't be happier."