University of Georgia Athletics
1999 National Championship
September 08, 2007 | Men's Golf
Following the 1999 NCAA Championship in Chaska, Minn.
The announcer called out the wrong school as the winner of the national title.
A torrential rainstorm hit the suburb of Minneapolis.
And a courtesy van provided to the actual champion was vandalized, presumably by a not-so-gracious loser.
But guess what? The players and coaches from the Georgia men’s golf team couldn’t have cared less. All of that was a small price to pay for the program’s first national championship.
“It’s an indescribable feeling,” said Coach Chris Haack, whose Georgia (not Washington, as the announcer said) squad secured the trophy. “All the hard work, all the sacrifice, all the time spent hitting balls, it’s worth it. I always wondered what it felt like when teams like UNLV and Oklahoma State won the national title. Now I know and it’s a great feeling. I am so proud of our guys. A four-day tournament is a real grind, but they stayed focused and played good, steady golf all week. They really played like champions.”
Especially on the last day of the tournament. The Bulldogs entered the fourth and final round trailing perennial power Oklahoma State by five shots at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Going in, the players and coaches to a man said making up five shots was not a difficult proposition and they were right. Georgia actually pulled ahead after just two holes and extended its lead throughout the rest of the front nine before holding on down the stretch to win by three.
“We knew that we had to patient on this course because so much can change so quickly,” Michael Morrison said. “You can’t take anything for granted. You have to play every shot as hard as the last one. You’ve got to play every hole to the best of your ability. I think we all did that.”
Particularly Ryuji Imada. He paced the comeback effort with a 5-under par 67, one off the course record for Hazeltine. Imada finished the tournament at one-under 287, good enough for second place behind Northwestern’s Luke Donald, the National Player of the Year who fired a 284.
“It was one of the best 18 holes of golf I’ve ever seen,” said Haack, who sported a newly shaved bald head after the NCAAs as he made good on a pre-tournament promise. “Ryuji was spectacular. He certainly picked the right time to turn it on. That could go down in history as one of the best final rounds at the NCAAs. The little man just put us on his back and took us to the title.”
Imada, who garnered First-Team All-America honors two days after the NCAAs, had a chance at winning the medalist title down the stretch, but he said he focused more on the team crown.
“The last thing I wanted to do was mess up and cost us the national championship,” Imada said. “I had a couple of chances to go at the flag, but I didn’t because it meant more for us as a team to win the national championship. I wanted to be aggressive, but I didn’t want to let the team down.”
Imada finished the year as the nation’s third-ranked golfer, trailing only Donald and Georgia Tech’s Bryce Molder.
“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had. It’s unbelievable,” Nick Cassini said. “No matter what any of us do the rest of our lives in golf, we’ll be the 1999 national champions. It’s like a dream come true.”
The announcer called out the wrong school as the winner of the national title.
A torrential rainstorm hit the suburb of Minneapolis.
And a courtesy van provided to the actual champion was vandalized, presumably by a not-so-gracious loser.
But guess what? The players and coaches from the Georgia men’s golf team couldn’t have cared less. All of that was a small price to pay for the program’s first national championship.
“It’s an indescribable feeling,” said Coach Chris Haack, whose Georgia (not Washington, as the announcer said) squad secured the trophy. “All the hard work, all the sacrifice, all the time spent hitting balls, it’s worth it. I always wondered what it felt like when teams like UNLV and Oklahoma State won the national title. Now I know and it’s a great feeling. I am so proud of our guys. A four-day tournament is a real grind, but they stayed focused and played good, steady golf all week. They really played like champions.”
Especially on the last day of the tournament. The Bulldogs entered the fourth and final round trailing perennial power Oklahoma State by five shots at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Going in, the players and coaches to a man said making up five shots was not a difficult proposition and they were right. Georgia actually pulled ahead after just two holes and extended its lead throughout the rest of the front nine before holding on down the stretch to win by three.
“We knew that we had to patient on this course because so much can change so quickly,” Michael Morrison said. “You can’t take anything for granted. You have to play every shot as hard as the last one. You’ve got to play every hole to the best of your ability. I think we all did that.”
Particularly Ryuji Imada. He paced the comeback effort with a 5-under par 67, one off the course record for Hazeltine. Imada finished the tournament at one-under 287, good enough for second place behind Northwestern’s Luke Donald, the National Player of the Year who fired a 284.
“It was one of the best 18 holes of golf I’ve ever seen,” said Haack, who sported a newly shaved bald head after the NCAAs as he made good on a pre-tournament promise. “Ryuji was spectacular. He certainly picked the right time to turn it on. That could go down in history as one of the best final rounds at the NCAAs. The little man just put us on his back and took us to the title.”
Imada, who garnered First-Team All-America honors two days after the NCAAs, had a chance at winning the medalist title down the stretch, but he said he focused more on the team crown.
“The last thing I wanted to do was mess up and cost us the national championship,” Imada said. “I had a couple of chances to go at the flag, but I didn’t because it meant more for us as a team to win the national championship. I wanted to be aggressive, but I didn’t want to let the team down.”
Imada finished the year as the nation’s third-ranked golfer, trailing only Donald and Georgia Tech’s Bryce Molder.
“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had. It’s unbelievable,” Nick Cassini said. “No matter what any of us do the rest of our lives in golf, we’ll be the 1999 national champions. It’s like a dream come true.”
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