GRAND HAVEN, Mich. – The Alabama men and Florida State women lead the 2024 Folds of Honor Collegiate heading into Wednesday’s final round at American Dunes Golf Club.
Individual leader Dominic Clemons and teammate Jonathan Griz (69-68, -5) kept the Crimson Tide in front (275-288, -5) of charging Illinois (286-278, -4) on Tuesday morning. A junior from Cambridge, England, Clemons used five birdies and an eagle on the par-5 18th hole for a five-under 66 (69-66, -7) and one-shot lead over Michigan State’s Ashton McCulloch (67-69, -6).
“I was playing pretty average for most of the round,” Clemons said. “I made a stupid bogey on 13 and then birdied 15 and finished birdie-eagle on 17 and 18 to bounce back. Hopefully I can play the same tour golf tomorrow, keep it simple, and try to hole a couple of putts.”
“This is a cool event,” continued Clemons. “I didn’t realize how important Folds of Honor was until I got here. It just shows how much they’re doing for us. It’s been a great week so far and hopefully I can keep it going.”
Even with a four-over 288 on the day next to their name, Alabama Head Coach Jay Seawell believes his team is right where they want to be.
“They don’t give out a trophy yesterday or today, so we know that we need to be great tomorrow,” he said. “I like how we finished and responded to the adversity of not playing too well. We’ll build off of that and look forward to a great finish tomorrow.”
The afternoon saw only six players finish in the red, including leader Carolina Melgrati. The Arizona senior from Milan, Italy, carded four birdies, including on the par-5 18th hole, for a three-under 69 (70-69, -5) and three-shot lead over Florida State’s Sophia Fullbrook and Mirabel Ting.
“I started with bogey on 10 but then I tried to fix the problem by hitting a little left,” said Melgrati. “That worked, because my long game then turned out pretty solid. Some putts and saves went in, which is always nice. This is a beautiful place. I love the grass and playing with the sun.”
Also starting on 10, Fullbrook, Ting, and the world’s top-ranked amateur Lottie Woad each recorded bogey-free front-nines to pace the Seminoles and put them up one shot (293-292, +9) over first-round leaders Arizona (289-297, +10).
“I spent most of the day with Sophia,” Florida State Head Coach Amy Bond said. “She played a great round of golf, hanging back on a couple of the par-3s to get Mirabel and Lottie. We played a pretty decent round of golf in these conditions with firmer greens. It’s not that often that we get to play in the afternoon, so I’m really happy with what they did today and excited to see what tomorrow holds.”
“At the beginning of the year, you don’t know what you have, but I think it’s always good battling for the lead coming down the stretch heading into the final round,” continued Bond. “They get better each time they get on the golf course, and if you can do that, good things are going to happen. You have to play one shot and one hole at a time. If we can do that, I think that we have a possibility.”
The women will tee off for the final round of the 2024 Folds of Honor Collegiate at 7:15 a.m. ET and the men at 12:00 noon EST. Follow this men’s link and women’s link for live scoring and Golf Channel’s live coverage will run 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4:30-7:30 p.m. ET.
About Folds of Honor
Folds of Honor is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of US military service members and first responders who have fallen or been disabled while serving our country and communities. Our educational scholarships support private school tuition or tutoring in grades K-12, tuition for college, technical or trade school and post-graduate work, including a master’s degree, doctorate, or professional program. Funds for a second bachelor’s degree or trade/technical program certification are also available. Since its inception in 2007, Folds of Honor has awarded over 52,000 scholarships totaling about $244 million in all 50 states. Among the students served, 45 percent are minorities. It is rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator and Platinum on Candid. It was founded by Lt Col Dan Rooney, the only-ever F-16 fighter pilot (with three combat tours in Iraq) and PGA Professional. He is currently stationed at Headquarters Air Force Recruiting Service Detachment 1, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. For more information or to donate in support of a Folds of Honor scholarship visit foldsofhonor.org.
About American Dunes Golf Club
In 2006, the Grand Haven Golf Club hosted a small golf tournament that would inspire the founding of Folds of Honor. The Grand Haven Golf Club closed in 2018 and a limited group of patriots joined together with Jack Nicklaus to create American Dunes. Nicklaus led the project by donating his design fee, a group of eighteen individuals sponsored one hole each, and five private investors joined together to preserve the birthplace of Folds of Honor. The mission of American Dunes is unwavering. We are honored to raise awareness and funds for the families of fallen or disabled military service members and first responders.
Since the facility opened in May 2021, over $2.6 million from profits have been donated back to Folds of Honor to provide life-changing educational scholarships.
“American Dunes represents a collaboration of countless likeminded patriots, who want this golf course to forever stand as a tribute to the birthplace of Folds of Honor, a safe haven for veterans who find rehabilitation through the recreation of the game, and a backdrop to celebrate our country and those who fought for its freedom,” said Lt Col Dan Rooney, founder and CEO of Folds of Honor. “A significant legacy such as this is born out of the effort of selfless individuals and companies who have donated their time and resources.”