University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Earn No. 1 Rankings From Golfweek, Golf World
April 05, 2007 | Men's Golf
ATHENS, Ga. — The Georgia men’s golf team is back in familiar territory.
The Bulldogs are the nation’s No. 1-ranked team, according to two polls released this week. Georgia supplanted Stanford atop both the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and the Golf World/Nike Coaches Poll.
"We are certainly proud of the No. 1 rankings," said Georgia coach Chris Haack, who led the Bulldogs to national titles in 1999 and 2005 and to the final No. 1 ranking in 2001. "The guys have worked very hard, and they deserve to be recognized this way. It means a lot to us and I like the way we are playing right now, but we all understand there is still a long way to go. We just need to stay focused and keep it up as we head into the stretch run of our season. It’s great to be No. 1 in early April, but our goal is to be No. 1 in early June.”
Georgia will play as the No. 1 team for the first time next week in Alpharetta at the Golf Club of Georgia. The Bulldogs will join an elite field in the second edition of the United States Collegiate Championship.
The event will be held Monday through Wednesday, with live scoring available through golfstat.com. There is a long list of amenities available to the coaches and players at the tournament, including caddies dressed in green and white coveralls for each competitor. Normally, players carry their own bags at college events.
“This is a first-class tournament,” Haack said. “We had a great time there last year, and we are excited about heading over again this year. We also get to see the very best teams in the country, and that’s going to really help us as we get ready for the SECs and the NCAAs.”
Haack will use a lineup of seniors Chris Kirk and Brendon Todd, sophomores Brian Harman and Adam Mitchell, and freshman Hudson Swafford. That quintet won the Puerto Rico Classic and the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational earlier this spring.
