University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Open Postseason With SECs
April 14, 2016 | Women's Golf
We interviewed head coach Josh Brewer, junior Harang Lee and freshman Bailey Tardy.
Georgia Women's Golf Tournament Notes
2016 SEC Championships
April 15-17 • Birmingham, Ala.
Greystone Golf and Country Club Legacy Course
Par 72; 6195 Yards
Bulldogs Open Postseason With SEC Championships
Following the most productive regular season of the current millennium, the Georgia women's golf team will begin postseason competition in Birmingham, Alabama, this weekend at the 2016 SEC Championships. The SECs will be contested on the Greystone Golf and Country Club's Legacy Course, a par-72; 6195-yard layout.
As usual, the SEC is stacked with top teams. The Bulldogs enter the weekend at No. 4 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and No. 5 in the Golfstat rankings. Alabama is No. 1 in Golfstat and No. 3 by Golfweek; Florida is No. 7 in Golfstat and No. 8 by Golfweek; and Arkansas is No. 8 in Golfstat and No. 11 in Golfweek. In addition, South Carolina is No. 21 in Golfweek and No. 22 by Golfstat and Tennessee is No. 22 in Golfweek and No. 26 in Golfstat.
"In a way, the SEC will be better than a Regional field," Brewer said. "It's very top-heavy. We know we have to go and play well if we want to win the 12th SEC title in school history. We're just going to keep the same mindset we've had all season - to try to get in position for the final nine holes on Sunday and see what happens."
Georgia's lineup for the SECs will consist of Harang Lee, Bailey Tardy, Jillian Hollis, Rinko Mitsunaga and Sammi Lee.
"We haven't really changed much since August," head coach Josh Brewer said. "They've been working hard and seem excited right now. Those are positive signs for us."
Positive signs have surrounded the Bulldogs since the season began. Georgia has captured seven titles - four team and three individual - during the regular season. That's the most since winning 10 - seven team and three individual - during an NCAA runner-up campaign in 1998-99.
The Bulldogs' route to their success has been diverse. Georgia used three different lineups during the four team victories. Hollis, Mitsunaga and Tardy - all freshmen - earned the individual wins, the first time three different Bulldogs captured medalist honors since UGA's 2001 NCAA Championship season.
The Bulldogs' season to date also has been littered with record-setting performances in every team and individual category.
Georgia is on pace to shatter its season stroke average record. The Bulldogs' current clip of 288.04 is more than six full strokes per round better than the current record of 294.50 in 2006-07...coincidentally UGA's last SEC Championship team. Individually, Tardy, Harang Lee and Hollis sport stroke averages that would rank No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, among Georgia's all-time top-10 efforts.
In their first 35 seasons - and 413 tournaments - the Bulldogs shot par or better in six events. During the 2015-16 campaign, Georgia has done so in six of nine tourneys. In the process, the Bulldogs have posted three of the top-5 team scores in school history and their lowest single round ever, a 13-under 275 at the Mason Rudolph Championship.
Tardy broke the school record for best tournament score with a 12-under 204 at the Windy City Collegiate last fall. Hollis then came within a stroke of that mark during her victory at the Mountain View Collegiate.
"I'm very excited to start postseason play, but it's really just another golf tournament," Hollis said. "I treat every one the same. Obviously, you want to play well in all of them so it's been the same type of preparation."
Seven different Bulldogs have posted par-or-better rounds this season. All told, Georgia has 52 individual and 12 team POB loops. Such depth has provided the Bulldogs with confidence individually.
"We have had so much confidence all year," Hollis said. "Having that attitude is really good for us, especially going into the postseason. I think our team isn't worried about the competition. I'm more worried about getting out on the golf course, figuring out where I need to hit it on the fairways and the greens...the strategy and positioning on the golf course and being able to execute that. That's what I'm more focused on."
Sammi Lee, a relative mainstay in Bulldogs' lineup the past two seasons, will be making just her second appearance in the playing five this season. Two years ago, Lee was Georgia's top individual finisher at the SECs as a freshman in 2014 when she tied for 24th on Greystone's Founders Course.
"There's a comfortableness going back to a place where I know I've played well previously," Lee said. "It's easy on the mind. Obviously, it's different from going back to a place where you played awful so I'm excited to get back out there. I know I can play well there because I've done it before."
UGA's SEC Tourney History
Georgia has captured a league-leading 19 SEC Women's Golf Championships all-time. Georgia has won 11 team and eight individual titles.
Florida ranks second with 16 conference championships, eight team and eight individual titles, while Auburn ranks third with 15 crowns, nine team and six individual.
UGA, UF and AU own 50 of the combined 70 SEC titles all-time in women's golf, while the other 11 league schools have captured the other 20 (seven team and 13 individual).
A Better Environment
After the last two SEC Championships have been plagued by less than desirable weather conditions, the forecast for this weekend appears to be stellar.
"I think it's probably the strongest the conference has been since I've been here," Josh Brewer said. "You don't want the weather to cause some fluke winner to happen. You want the best team and the best individual to win. I hope Mother Nature cooperates, and I'll like our chances if she does."
Tardy Gets Curtis Cup Nod
Bailey Tardy will represent the U.S. in the 2016 Curtis Cup in June at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club in Enniskerry, Ireland.
"I think it's everyone's goal to compete on the national level," Tardy said. "To be able to go over to Ireland and compete on their soil is one of the things I'm most excited about. I know all the girls on the U.S. team, and I know it's going to be so much fun playing with them against Great Britain and Ireland."
The Curtis Cup is a biennial contest between amateur women golfers from the U.S. and Great Britain and Ireland.
Tardy, who is currently No. 10 in the Women's World Amateur Golf Rankings, will be Georgia Golf's seventh representative in the Curtis Cup, following Americans Terri Moody (1980), Cindy Schreyer (1986), Vicki Goetze (1992 and 1994), Angela Jerman (2002) and Taylor Leon (2006). In addition, former Bulldog Krystle Caithness played for the GB&I in the 2008 Curtis Cup.
SEC Weekly Award Winners
Jillian Hollis, Harang Lee and Bailey Tardy have earned SEC weekly accolades this spring.
Hollis and Tardy swept Player and Freshman of the Week, respectively, following the Mountain View Collegiate. Hollis won the event, while Tardy finished third. Lee was named co-Player of the Week after finishing second in stroke play and posting a 3-0 match play record in the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.
Georgia In The Stats
In Golfstat's national statistical rankings Georgia currently leads the nation in both team relation-to-par stroke average of +1.04 and dropped score (76.11). The Bulldogs' average score of 72.80, is No. 2 nationally behind only Southern Cal's 72.67.
