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Nick Saban, SEC coaches show off golf swings at Regions Tradition Tournament

On3 imageby: Sam Gillenwater05/15/25samdg_33
Nick Saban (2025 Regions Tradition)

As part of the Regions Tradition, a Celebrity Pro-Am is held leading into the event. Those taking part teed off on Wednesday, including several coaches from around the Southeastern Conference.

Nick Saban, Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer, Auburn’s Hugh Freeze, and Alabama’s Nate Oats were all featured in the clip shared by the PGA Champions Tour from the event. It gave a side-by-side comparison of all of their respective swings while playing in the event in Birmingham.

Among the other sport-related names playing in the Pro-Am were SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, Charles Barkley, Bo Jackson, Greg McElroy, AJ McCarron, and UAB’s Trent Dilfer. Singer Riley Green, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, and even John Daly played as well.

For several of the coaches, the swings look good, especially since several have played in the Regions Tradition before. One, though, stuck out a little bit with Oats’. That said, he had already prefaced what the goal for his score was ahead of the event with the media.

“I thought about this. This occurred to me this week. Like, my goal in coaching and my goal in golf is very similar. Like, 100 is the number, right?” Oats joked about his golf game. “We’re trying to get to 100 when we coach and we’ve done it enough times with playing up and down. And, if we don’t get to 100, I’m a little disappointed. My goal in golf is similar. It’s just I’m trying to get down to 100 instead of up to 100. So, if I can get down to 100, which isn’t very good, obviously. My golf game stinks. But, if I can, you know, be under 100 in golf, be over 100 in coaching? That’s the number. So, 100 is the number…Yeah, I’m not a very good golfer, so I think 100 is the number both ways.”

These are some of the best college coaches, both in the conference and nationally, on the field and the court, with several having ties, in the past and present, back to the state of Alabama. That earned them all a spot in this round with several solid showings out on the course.

Nick Saban compliments Charles Barkley

Nick Saban and Charles Barkley should be enemies, given the schools they’ve long since been associated with. However, that isn’t the case as Saban even looks up to Barkley.

Saban, who recently joined the sports media landscape himself actually looks up to Barkley for what he’s done in his career. That’s something he explained before they golfed together as a pairing at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am.

“We’re always happy to be here,” Saban said. “This is one of the things that I look forward to every year. Great experiences to develop relationships with some of the great players in golf who have great reputations and been great for the game. So, this is fantastic, and I’m looking forward to playing with Charles today. I’ve always looked up to Charles.”

“Thought he was a great player, but he does a great job professionally in terms of media, which you all are a part of,” Saban said. “And I certainly respect the fact that he comes home and supports the community like he does. So, that’s something I’m looking forward to.”