Alabama USGA Men’s State Team members announced

The Alabama Golf Association (AGA) has announced its selections to represent the state of Alabama at the USGA Men’s State Team Championship at The Country Club of Birmingham on September 28-30, 2016. 

The Alabama team will be represented by Matt Johnson, 36, of Dothan; Woodie Eubanks, 40, of Trussville; and Steven Groover, 31, of Birmingham. 

Johnson, the third-ranked amateur in Alabama, was a member of the 2014 Alabama USGA State Team and won the 2011 Alabama State Mid-Amateur. This year, Johnson advanced to the semifinals in the Alabama State Match Play Championship at the Country Club of Brewton and finished T19 at the Alabama State Amateur held in June at The Country Club of Birmingham. 

Eubanks, who is fifth in the Alabama Men’s Amateur rankings, qualified for the 2016 U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and finished sixth at the State Amateur. He was also in the field of the 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur at The Country Club of Birmingham. Eubanks is the 2008 Alabama State Mid-Amateur Champion, as well as the 2011 Alabama State Four-Ball Champion. This will be Eubanks’ fifth USGA championship appearance. 

Veteran amateur Steve Hudson of Birmingham has been selected to serve as team captain for Alabama. Hudson is a nationally ranked senior and a five-time AGA champion including winning this year’s Alabama Four-Ball with Robert Nelson of Fairhope. 

The USGA Men’s State Team field includes three players to represent each of the 50 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The format of the tournament will be 54 holes of stroke play. The two lowest of the three scores will be counted for the team’s daily total. 

The Country Club of Birmingham will host its second USGA championship in three years. In 2013, it hosted the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, where Mike McCoy of Iowa won the title. The club has hosted numerous AGA championships and USGA qualifiers including this year’s 100th Alabama State Amateur Championship.

The Alabama Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization founded in 1915 whose mission is to serve and promote amateur golf in Alabama. AGA membership consists of over 130 member clubs represented by nearly 18,500 individuals.  

For more information about the Alabama Golf Association, visit alabamagolf.org. 

– Submitted by Stephen Bradley.