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Brooks Rabren wins the Spirit of America Classic
Spirit of America champion Brooks Rabren
Spirit of America champion Brooks Rabren

DECATUR, AL (July 9, 2017) - On the 36-hole final day of the 50th Spirit of America Classic Brooks Rabren fired rounds of 68-67 to finish 7-under and as the three-stroke winner at Burningtree Country Club.

Rabren, a sophomore at South Alabama, began the final day four-strokes off the pace before rallying to the come from behind victory.

“It’s been a great week,” Rabren told the Decatur Daily. “I guess my expectations need to be a little higher in the future.”

Early in the second round it looked as if Rabren had played himself out of the tournament, “I was 6 over after 21 holes,” Rabren said who opened with rounds of 72-70. “I just told myself it was early and I had a lot of holes left to make up for that bad start. That’s not how I used to handle adversity.”

With four holes remaining in the final round a handful of golfers were still in the mix but Rabren pulled away down the stretch with birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 18. He became the first South Alabama player to win the Spirit of America since 1995 when Heath Slocum claimed the title.

Mac Murphy (-4) took second place, Cody O'Toole (-3) and William Walker III (-3) shared third while James Medley (-2) placed fifth.

In the team competition UAB Team 2 captured the title by three-strokes over Florida State. The UAB squad (148-140-137-144--569) was comprised of Scott Bryan and William Walker III.

Editors Note: Decatur Daily contributed to this story

Results: Spirit of America
1ALBrooks RabrenAndalusia, AL30072-70-68-67=277
2ALMac MurphyDecatur, AL20073-70-68-69=280
T3ALCody O'ToolePinson, AL10075-65-74-67=281
5ALJames MedleyAthens, AL10072-69-73-68=282
T3ALWilliam WalkerTuscaloosa, AL10073-69-68-71=281

View full results for Spirit of America

ABOUT THE Spirit of America

The Spirit of America Golf Classic is Burningtree Country Club's long-running, fundraising tournament held annually in conjunction with Decatur’s Spirit of America Festival, which itself is one of the largest, free Fourth of July festivals in the south. Established in 1967, this unique "college team and individual" format event has been home to collegiate players and top amateur players from across the nation. The format is 72-holes of stroke play, with a 54-hole collegiate team division. The "Spirit" tournament boasts many top graduates, like 1995 Champion-turned-PGA tour player Heath Slocum, and 1989 Junior Champion-turned-PGA tour player Stewart Cink.

Starting in 2020 the golf tournament will be a coed event. The plan is to have 30 two-woman teams and 30 two- man teams. The women’s teams will be invited and not have to pay an entry fee.

View Complete Tournament Information

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