FRANKLIN, Tenn. ? As Alabama coach Mic Potter stood on the 18th green at Vanderbilt Legends Club's North Course, Southern California coach Andrea L. Gaston walked over and put her arm around the newly minted national champion.
"How many years?" Gaston asked.
"I think it's 29 but I'm not going to count them, either," Potter said. "It just goes to show, if you stick around long enough ?"
In Potter's case, it took 29 years to win his first national title. The Crimson Tide hung on Friday for a one-stroke victory over Southern Cal at the NCAA Championships.
The national title is the third this year for the Tide, along with football and women's gymnastics.
Alabama finished 19 over to USC's 20 over for the tournament. Alabama was 6 over in the final round to USC's 5 over. Crimson Tide senior Brooke Pancake sank a 4-foot par putt on the 18th hole to give Alabama the win.
LSU (+21) came in third place, followed by Virginia (+23) and South Carolina (+24). Virginia lost five strokes on the first day after Elizabeth Brightwell put down the wrong score.
"This means so much to (Potter). I can't explain to you guys ? he has been so close so many times. I'm so honored I got to be on the team that did it for him," said Pancake, a Chattanooga native and four-time Tennessee high school champion who is on the U.S. Curtis Cup team. "For him to have hugged me with tears in his eyes afterwards, it was incredible."
Alabama appeared to have the tournament in hand with two groups remaining on the 18th hole and a four-stroke lead. But Alabama's Jennifer Kirby double-bogeyed the hole and USC's Inah Park birdied it.
It set the stage for Pancake. The senior laid up on her second shot, but missed it into the trees. She then struck the ball 60 feet long of the hole on her approach and had a lengthy putt for birdie. She missed it by 4 feet then sank the clincher.
"When I was standing over (the putt), I kind of had the feeling of 'This is my moment,' " Pancake said. "I've put four years into it, and I can't think of a better way to finish my senior year."
Pancake shot 1-over 73 Friday to finish second in the individual standings to Oklahoma's Chirapat Jao-Javanil.
The sophomore from Thailand had quite the finishing kick to win the individual competition.
She birdied two of her last three holes to shoot a 2-under 70 and finish 6 under for the tournament. Pancake was four shots back.
"It kind of worked out that I got to start on hole No. 10, and I had seven, eight and nine to finish the round," Jao-Javanil said. "I think that helped because those last three holes were easier than finishing at 15, 17 and 18."
She wrapped up the title with a flourish on another tap-in birdie on the par-5 ninth and soon started getting tweets of congratulations from Oklahoma's football players.
"It's really special," Jao-Javanil said. "I mean because I feel like over here in the U.S. football is a really big sport. To get recognition from them ? we're like the women's golf team."
Contributing: Wire reports
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