University of Georgia Athletics
Men's Golf Puerto Rico Classic Preview
February 13, 2012 | Men's Golf
Feb. 13, 2012
ATHENS, Ga. --- The Georgia men's golf team will return to action Sunday through Tuesday at the Puerto Rico Classic in Rio Grande. This will be the Bulldogs' first tournament of the spring season.
Georgia has won the Puerto Rico Classic three times and placed fourth in 2011 at 6-under 858.
"The main thing is for us to see progress and for us to see our guys getting better," said head coach Chris Haack. "If they come out, play well and make a statement, that's just a bonus. Right now, it's just a matter of getting them into the mode of competing and seeing what they're capable of doing and where they need to get better. I don't put a lot of stock in where we're finishing, I just want to see improvement by each individual."
The Bulldogs ended their fall campaign strong, winning the Old Dominion/Outerbanks Collgiate. Three Georgia golfers placed in the top-10, including T.J. Mitchell's first-place and Keith Mitchell's third-place efforts.
Georgia will feature a lineup of junior T.J. Mitchell, sophomores Keith Mitchell and Joey Garber and freshmen Nicholas Reach and Sam Straka. T.J. Mitchell leads the Bulldogs with a scoring average of 72.23, followed by Reach at 72.30. Keith Mitchell and Straka are averaging 68.67 and 77.50, respectively. The Puerto Rico Classic will be Garber's first tournament as a Bulldog since transferring from Michigan; he played in all 14 tournaments for Michigan last year.
"It's a great feel," continued Haack. "The golf course is fun to play; it has a lot of hazards; you've got to drive it pretty straight. Overall it will be a really good test because the field is tough and the golf course is tough."
Joining the Bulldogs and host Purdue in Puerto Rico will be No. 1 Texas, No. 5 Georgia Tech, No. 8 Alabama, No. 13 Clemson, No. 21 Oklahoma State, East Tennessee State, Michigan, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, UNCG and Virginia Tech.
Live scoring and tee times can be found here.
