University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Golfers Set Sights On NCAA Championship
May 25, 2009 | Men's Golf
ATHENS, Ga. --- The No. 1-ranked Georgia men’s golf team will be seeking its third national title in 11 seasons this week at the NCAA Championship at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
The Bulldogs claimed national titles in 1999 and 2005 and will be making their 12th straight appearance at the NCAAs. Georgia will try to add to its trophy case as it plays Tuesday through Saturday against 29 more of the nation’s best teams.
“There’s no better feeling in college golf than holding that trophy on the last day,” said Georgia coach Chris Haack, who is completing his 13th season. “Playing for the championship is a great opportunity for all the teams. The change in the format this season makes even more exciting, and we are looking forward to seeing how everything shakes out.”
Instead of using a four-day, 72-hole format, the tournament has a new wrinkle this season. All 30 teams will play 54 holes Tuesday through Thursday, at which time the individual national champion will be crowned. Following 54 holes, the eight teams with the lowest scores will advance to a single-elimination match play tournament that will feature the quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday and the championship match on Saturday. This will be the first since 1965 that the winner hasn’t been determined by total strokes.
“It certainly is different,” Haack said. “For the three rounds of stroke play, all we can do is worry about our team. It’s us against the golf course. We have to do the best we can and see how it ends up. In match play, anything can happen. We have to take it one day at a time, do the best we can and hopefully get some lucky breaks along the way. The 1999 and 2005 teams were good and they had some things break their way. We have to try to be in position to make that happen.”
Haack will be using a lineup of seniors Brian Harman and Adam Mitchell, junior Hudson Swafford, and sophomores Harris English and Russell Henley. Dating back to last season, that quintet has been together for 20 tournaments, including last year’s NCAAs and a total of five victories.
The Bulldogs will tee off on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. with their counterparts from Arizona State and UCLA. On Wednesday, the same group will tee off at 7:20 a.m. Thursday’s third round will be determined by placement in the field. Friday’s match play rounds will start at 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., and the final on Saturday will begin at 10 a.m.
Tee times, pairings and live scoring from the NCAAs can be found at golfstat.com.
No. 1 Georgia will be joined in the NCAAs by No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Southern Cal, No. 4 Washington, No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 Alabama, No. 8 Georgia Tech, No. 9 Florida, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 11 South Carolina, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 Arizona State, No. 14 UCLA, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 16 Illinois, No. 17 Texas Tech, No. 20 Texas Christian, No. 21 Central Florida, No. 24 Texas, No. 25 Chattanooga, No. 26 Wake Forest, No. 28 Arizona, No. 31 Oregon, No. 38 Duke, No. 39 Michigan, No. 47 Virginia, No. 48 Ohio State, No. 51 Northwestern, No. 59 Iowa and No. 68 San Diego.
In its 10 tournaments this year, Georgia went 58-11-2 against the teams in the NCAAs. The Bulldogs also swept Texas Tech 5-0 in match play at the UGA Golf Course in March.
The Bulldogs are making their 41st appearance at the NCAA Championship. Georgia has advanced to the NCAAs for 12 straight seasons, including 1999 and 2005 when it won the national title and 2007 when it came in second. George Hamer is the only Bulldog to ever claim NCAA medalist honors, doing so in 1946. Ryuji Imada (1999) and Chris Kirk (2006) had second-place efforts.
The Bulldogs claimed national titles in 1999 and 2005 and will be making their 12th straight appearance at the NCAAs. Georgia will try to add to its trophy case as it plays Tuesday through Saturday against 29 more of the nation’s best teams.
“There’s no better feeling in college golf than holding that trophy on the last day,” said Georgia coach Chris Haack, who is completing his 13th season. “Playing for the championship is a great opportunity for all the teams. The change in the format this season makes even more exciting, and we are looking forward to seeing how everything shakes out.”
Instead of using a four-day, 72-hole format, the tournament has a new wrinkle this season. All 30 teams will play 54 holes Tuesday through Thursday, at which time the individual national champion will be crowned. Following 54 holes, the eight teams with the lowest scores will advance to a single-elimination match play tournament that will feature the quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday and the championship match on Saturday. This will be the first since 1965 that the winner hasn’t been determined by total strokes.
“It certainly is different,” Haack said. “For the three rounds of stroke play, all we can do is worry about our team. It’s us against the golf course. We have to do the best we can and see how it ends up. In match play, anything can happen. We have to take it one day at a time, do the best we can and hopefully get some lucky breaks along the way. The 1999 and 2005 teams were good and they had some things break their way. We have to try to be in position to make that happen.”
Haack will be using a lineup of seniors Brian Harman and Adam Mitchell, junior Hudson Swafford, and sophomores Harris English and Russell Henley. Dating back to last season, that quintet has been together for 20 tournaments, including last year’s NCAAs and a total of five victories.
The Bulldogs will tee off on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. with their counterparts from Arizona State and UCLA. On Wednesday, the same group will tee off at 7:20 a.m. Thursday’s third round will be determined by placement in the field. Friday’s match play rounds will start at 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., and the final on Saturday will begin at 10 a.m.
Tee times, pairings and live scoring from the NCAAs can be found at golfstat.com.
No. 1 Georgia will be joined in the NCAAs by No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 3 Southern Cal, No. 4 Washington, No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 Alabama, No. 8 Georgia Tech, No. 9 Florida, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 11 South Carolina, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 Arizona State, No. 14 UCLA, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 16 Illinois, No. 17 Texas Tech, No. 20 Texas Christian, No. 21 Central Florida, No. 24 Texas, No. 25 Chattanooga, No. 26 Wake Forest, No. 28 Arizona, No. 31 Oregon, No. 38 Duke, No. 39 Michigan, No. 47 Virginia, No. 48 Ohio State, No. 51 Northwestern, No. 59 Iowa and No. 68 San Diego.
In its 10 tournaments this year, Georgia went 58-11-2 against the teams in the NCAAs. The Bulldogs also swept Texas Tech 5-0 in match play at the UGA Golf Course in March.
The Bulldogs are making their 41st appearance at the NCAA Championship. Georgia has advanced to the NCAAs for 12 straight seasons, including 1999 and 2005 when it won the national title and 2007 when it came in second. George Hamer is the only Bulldog to ever claim NCAA medalist honors, doing so in 1946. Ryuji Imada (1999) and Chris Kirk (2006) had second-place efforts.
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