University of Georgia Athletics
Home Sweet Home For Bulldogs
March 17, 2015 | Men's Golf
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. -- Greyson Sigg smiled late Monday afternoon as he talked about his easy trip home.
"It's really nice, I've got a 10-minute drive home," the sophomore said, relaxing in his golf cart after helping the Georgia men's golf team capture first place in the Southern Intercollegiate Championships at the Athens Country Club.
Those were words to savor for Sigg and the Bulldogs, from whom travel, loads of luggage and sleeping in hotel beds are the norm during the season. Not that they're complaining, given that since August they've competed in Pebble Beach, Calif., Maui, Puerto Rico and Las Vegas, as well as several other far-from-rubbish destinations.
Under bright blue skies and in temperatures that topped out in the mid 80s, Georgia and squads from 13 other schools competed in the one-day, 36-hole tournament. For the Bulldogs, it was their first home game, if you will, since hosting the 2012 Athens Regional of the NCAAs.
"Since Regionals we haven't had a home tournament, so it felt really nice today," said Georgia senior Nicholas Reach, who had a two-round total of 1-under 143 and finished tied for fourth, along with teammates Zach Healy, Jaime Lopez Rivarola and Sepp Straka, in the individual standings.
Reach said he liked the challenging setup of the course, which Georgia has practiced on often, and wished the Dogs could have come back for more Tuesday.
"I think it played a little bit harder and the pins were tougher than we're used to, but we had a really fun day," he said. "I would even like to see it where you play 36 today and come out tomorrow and play 18, to make it a 54-hole event. I think it was really good."
Georgia coach Chris Haack, at the helm of the program since 1996, said the last time the Dogs played a regular-season tournament in Athens was before his time.
The SICs were true to their Southern roots with the likes of UGA, Georgia Regents University, Georgia State, Charleston Southern, Francis Marion, Furman, among many from Georgia or nearby states. Not so Southern were participants Princeton, Youngstown State and Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Haack wanted to give his team a home event and give UGA fans a chance to see the Bulldogs swing up close. With so many excellent tournaments already on the collegiate golf calendar, to start a new one wouldn't be easy. But a one-day affair geared toward schools in the Southeast, that could be done.
"It just kind of came at a good time and, of course, the weather cooperated and was absolutely perfect for us, so maybe that was a sign that we need to keep doing this," said Haack, for whom Monday's title was the 56th with the Bulldogs (third this season).
First held in 1935 and played off and on during the past 80 years -- the last run was from 1975-90 -- the Southern Intercollegiate Championships has had its share of notable medalists: Wake Forest's Arnold Palmer (1950), Oklahoma State's Bob Tway (1979) and Centenary's Hal Sutton in 1980. Georgia has had numerous winners, including Chip Beck's three-peat from 1976-78.
Monday's tournament was certainly unique for Haack, the UGA program and for Athens golf. It was also unique for David Sigg, of Augusta, Ga., who had two reasons to be proud as he (his wife Karen couldn't make it, Greyson said) walked back and forth around the course watching his sons, Georgia's Greyson Sigg and Presbyterian senior William Sigg.
Greyson said this was the first time as collegiate golfers that the brothers had played in the same tournament.
"He kind of walked back and forth after us," said Greyson after tying for 10th in the individual with a 1-over total of 145. "He was doing a lot of two-stepping out there."
The Bulldogs won't have to travel too far from home this weekend, when they compete as the defending champions of the Linger Longer Invitational in Greensboro, Ga.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Hall of Fame at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
